


Potentials

by mistressofmuses, UnlikeClockwork (mistressofmuses)



Series: Double Exposure [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Established Relationship, Give Kairi a Knife 2k20, Happy Ending, KH Rogue Nebula, Kairi-centric (Kingdom Hearts), Multi, OT3, Secret Relationship, Some epistolary sections, fairly action-oriented, illustration in chapter 14, memory manipulation, some angst but it will be okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:18:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 69,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistressofmuses/pseuds/mistressofmuses, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistressofmuses/pseuds/UnlikeClockwork
Summary: Kairi, Sora, and Riku are Heroes working under the auspices of The Defenders of the Light. The organization is ostensibly dedicated to fighting threats both mundane and extraordinary, as well as scientific research into the superhero phenomenon. In practice, it’s also devoted to marketing, with the Heroes it employs becoming some of the world’s biggest celebrities, and their battles a form of entertainment. As the organization teases a new conflict, one that could be especially dangerous for Riku, and corporate control tightens, Kairi has to face the realization that her employers do not have her best interests - or those of the world - at heart.
Relationships: Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Double Exposure [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872484
Comments: 209
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to the Rogue Nebula event organizers, especially Besin and Cap, who kept this event going even when a previous group fell apart! And many thanks to all the other writers and artists who also stuck it out - there are so many just wildly amazing works that are coming out of this event. Thanks again to Besin for a stunning art piece for this fic, and to Finn for betaing! If there are still any typos or errors, those are on me.

* * *

_Confidential: For Defenders of the Light internal circulation only_

**Radiance**

Previous alias: Starchild

Age: presumed 23

Age of power manifestation: 6 or earlier

Civilian identity: Kairi Uchida

Hero type: Dimensional

Power set: Generates light, which she then has minor control over. The generation seems to be unconscious at its base level, though she can choose to manifest more or less. The light she generates is visual only (no heat or other physical substance,) though she can control its brightness, movement, and sometimes color. With training her control has increased. She does not seem to have any control over light that she does not generate.

Profile: Appeared as a child on the night of a meteor shower. Speculated to have come from another world or dimension, she had already manifested powers, despite appearing approximately 6 years old. Has no memories of her life before her appearance in this dimension, though efforts are being made to help her recover them. Was raised for a time within the Defenders of the Light organization, but was ultimately placed for adoption with the Uchida family. Was given the Hero name “Starchild”, as one of the few child-Heroes in the world. Changed this to “Radiance” at the age of 16 to cultivate a more mature image. She teams up most frequently with Keyblade and Corridor, and seems to have a close friendship with both.

* * *

The radio signal lacked the crystal clear quality of the official Defenders of the Light transmissions, the ones that would be cleaned up and polished and re-edited for broadcast. That was to be expected, since no one outside of Headquarters was allowed to access those channels. Of course, they _also_ weren’t allowed to use their own unofficial radio devices; that would be even more sternly frowned upon than hacking into the official ones.

Fortunately, while Headquarters scanned for unauthorized devices (ostensibly to prevent any villainous groups from spying on Heroes, but probably more to protect against tabloids attempting to get story scoops), their scans were aimed at particular types of technology. Some long-retired Heroes had devised a low-tech radio system that didn’t show up on scans.

The loss in quality was an unfortunate side effect of tech that would escape notice. But still, Kairi was grateful to hear the shifting and rustling of motion, the jarring of footfalls interspersed with static, because it was confirmation that the other two were doing all right. They couldn’t speak to her directly, not without it being picked up by their official transmission devices and prompting questions from Headquarters, but they’d say things for her benefit sometimes, letting her follow along with the action. She did the same when she was on patrol, and one or both of them was sitting home.

“ _Nothing yet_ ,” Corridor’s voice cracked over the connection. “ _Let’s move to the next building._ ”

“ _Sure thing_ ,” Keyblade responded, and Kairi heard and _felt_ , even through the rough connection, the empty _drop_ sensation of Corridor opening one of the dark doorways that provided his codename.

The signal cut out entirely for a few seconds while they were within the corridor, then resumed on the other side.

“ _Maybe they aren’t going to hit this stretch today after all_ ,” Keyblade said. “ _If_ I _found out there was going to be a patrol, I’d move my crime elsewhere_.”

“ _Maybe_ …” Corridor’s voice trailed off. “ _Look down there. Is something moving?_ ”

“ _A person? Or a Shadow?_ ”

“ _No, it wasn’t dark like a Heartless… maybe it was nothing. Paper or trash or something._ ”

Kairi bit her lip, picturing the alleyway behind the city block she knew they were patrolling today. She hoped it wasn’t Heartless, since their primary objective had been to watch for human criminals. But it wouldn’t be the first time the Shadows surprised a hero on patrol.

Then a strange, fluttering hiss, wholly different than the hissing static of the shaky connection.

“What the hell is that?” Kairi asked out loud, even though the other two couldn’t hear her—the transmission was one-way.

“ _What is that?_ ” Keyblade echoed her words just before the thud of impact, of scraping across a gravel-topped roof.

“ _Hey!_ ” Corridor yelled sharply, before more confused sounds of motion and contact, with that wavering hiss overlaying it all.

“ _Three of them_ ,” Keyblade said, either for later broadcast use or for Kairi, “ _Never seen them before_.” He bit the words off quickly, before his attention was presumably diverted to the continuing fight.

She heard/felt another of Corridor’s dark tunnels open, and another scuffling noise after he went through it. The clang of Keyblade’s codename-sake striking against something hard came through, and a grunt of effort from one of the men.

Then sudden silence. Not the quiet static of nothing happening, or even the dead air that accompanied traveling through one of the dark corridors. Just… nothing. A dropped signal. Kairi put her hands over her ears, pressing on her headphones as if that would somehow bring the signal back.

Seconds stretched into minutes, her skin prickling cold as her heart seemed to shudder in her chest. Light sparked off of her fingers and the skin of her arms involuntarily, and she didn’t even try to stop it, barely _breathing_ in case it made her miss a sound. She’d pressed on the headphones so hard they were hurting her ears, but she couldn’t stop.

Finally, another brief crackle of static, and Corridor’s voice, “ _We’re okay,_ ” before the connection dropped again.

-

A pitch-black portal opened across the room. Kairi sat up a bit straighter on the small couch, looking over at the dark oval that had already grown to the size of a door. It looked like a hole in reality itself, though she knew if she stared long enough she might see distant swirls of color in the depths.

She didn’t have long enough to stare as the two men stepped out of the rift that had just appeared in her living room, and the hole promptly closed behind them.

Both of them were out of costume, having presumably cleaned up at Headquarters. Riku gave a short wave toward her as Sora bounded across the room to land next to her on the couch, scooting into her to make room for Riku on his other side.

Once Riku let himself fall into the offered seat, Sora swung his legs over Riku’s lap and leaned back against Kairi. Riku tipped his head back with a long exhale and shut his eyes.

Kairi let the two of them settle into their mutual sprawls on the narrow couch before asking, “So what happened out there?”

Sora looked at her with wide eyes, suddenly anxious. “You got Riku’s transmission that we were okay, didn’t you?”

She nodded, and he visibly relaxed. “I did, _after_ you just about gave me a heart attack worrying through the longest minutes of silence ever. What knocked out your transmitters?”

“It was _supposed_ to be a basic, easy patrol. We were supposed to be looking for a group of regular, human robbers who had been hitting stores in that area through the alley entrances. The things that ambushed us were _not_ human.” Riku sounded exhausted in a way that wasn’t usual, even after a long patrol.

“I don’t know what those things were, but Riku is right. Not human, not regular.” Sora sagged even more against her.

Kairi shifted to run a few fingers through Sora’s hair in a comforting gesture. “Some kind of Heartless? A new type?”

“Anti-Heartless, maybe,” Sora answered, closing his eyes. “The things were all white. They moved creepy-like, almost like they were made of paper, just drifting along.”

“Hit harder than paper. But he’s right, they seemed to float toward us, but felt like a truck when they hit us. We just gave a full report to Headquarters, too. According to them, nothing like that has been reported before, but they’ll ‘investigate’ and ‘keep us informed.’”

Kairi rolled her eyes. That probably meant they’d hear nothing more official about it for weeks at best, while The Defenders of the Light collected their information. And all the while, these things would likely keep attacking.

“You didn’t go out today, did you, Kairi?” Sora asked.

She shook her head. “Not today, no.”

“Have you heard _anything_ else from the field today?” Now Riku did look up.

The way he said that wasn’t comforting. Kairi’s brow furrowed. “No, I haven’t. Did something happen?” Her first thought was an injury among the Heroes. While all encounters were supposed to be non-lethal, accidents still happened. People still got hurt. Sometimes they had to, to keep the stakes high enough.

“Not yet,” Riku answered. 

It was Sora who elaborated, “Apparently, we’re about to have an Event.”

Kairi could hear the capital letter. She groaned. “Oh no, what this time?” 

“Nothing very concrete yet, just friend-of-a-friend-who-heard-something rumors, but with the appearance of these monster things? I’m betting they’re connected. And with Headquarters being so quiet about them, I have to wonder if this was some kind of deliberate test run,” Riku said.

“I don’t know that I’d go that far,” Kairi said. Riku sometimes verged a little close to paranoid. “But it sounds like there’s definitely something about to happen.”

Sora nodded. “It’ll probably start cropping up on some more of the fansites in the next day or two. After that buzz builds for a few more days, then there’ll be an official announcement. That’s usually how these things go.”

“Well, what are the friends-of-friends saying so far?” Kairi asked. Not that it would do any good to pick apart the rumors for clues. But any warning was better than no warning.

Riku sighed. “The current word is that it will ‘redefine our concepts of hero and villain’, which already sounds… worrying. Especially for me.”

Sora frowned. “You really think they’d have you switch sides again?”

“Well, Corridor’s powers aren’t exactly suited to the whole ‘Hero’ thing, are they?” Riku said, just a touch of bitterness creeping in.

Kairi shook her head. “Just because you open _dark_ corridors doesn’t mean you’re less of a Hero.”

“Tell that to the Defenders of the _Light_.”

“They already know that,” she said, though it sounded less convincing even to her.

“Not likely,” he laughed, though it was mostly devoid of amusement. “I think they just know it’s good for drama. Keep it in question if I’m going to betray you again. And some of my anti-fans would enjoy the smug satisfaction that _they_ always knew it wasn’t an _if_ , it was a _when._ ”

Sora rolled his eyes.

“Maybe they’ll go for the real plot twist and have _me_ betray you this time,” Kairi suggested.

At least that earned a real laugh from Riku. “Sure thing, _Starchild._ ”

“Excuse you, it’s been ‘Radiance’ since I was sixteen.” Kairi pretended to pout, flicking a bright spark of light at him across the couch. “Seven years, and you still don’t remember?”

“Ooh!” Sora scrambled up from his reclined spot and faced the other two. “Kairi, I bet if you betrayed us this time, they could have Riku convince you to come back to the good guys. You two could bond over having ‘made the wrong alliances’ or something. Might reinvigorate the DarkLight shippers!” He made a heart with his fingers and held it up, framing the two of them on the couch.

Kairi tapped her chin in mock-serious thought. “Hm, think we could get Riku to be the hinge of the shipwar for a change? The DarkLighters sure that we have so much in common now? Or my betrayal held up as proof that I was always an evil harpy cockblocking the true love that is KeyCore?”

“Oh, you laugh now…” Riku said.

“I’d laugh even harder if we could _really_ shock them all,” Kairi said, prowling closer across the couch, until her face was barely an inch from Riku’s. “Let everyone know that the arguments and the tabloid rumors have all been for nothing…” 

Riku looked like he was going to make a sarcastic comment back, but then his expression softened and he reached a hand up to pull her closer for a kiss.

Sora watched for a moment, then fell forward onto both of them, half-crushing them into the back of the couch in an awkward long-limbed hug before stealing his own kiss from Riku and then one from Kairi. “Oh yeah, could make some fansites absolutely _explode._ ”

Kairi laughed, but tugged them both closer. “I really was scared today.”

Sora buried his face in the crook of her neck. “We’re okay. We’re going to be okay.”

“Barely even a scratch, I promise,” Riku added.

“I got a great bruise, but that’s all!” Sora announced, scrambling back up and lifting the hem of his shirt to show her.

The bruise was rather spectacular, already a deep purple-black, spreading up the side of his rib cage. Kairi winced in sympathy.

But then Sora stripped off the shirt entirely and tossed it toward her before heading toward the small bedroom at the back of the apartment.

“Subject changer!” she called after him, before she and Riku were both following him.

Kairi hadn’t been kidding when she said she wished they could shock everyone by making their relationship public. But the Defenders of the Light had made it clear that that wouldn’t be good for their images, at least not at this point. None of the current roster of Heroes here were in publicly known relationships.

Hero couples in other regions had been given permission—even encouragement—to marry in the past, but usually only if they were also years-long fan favorites. By comparison, Corridor, Keyblade, and Radiance got a good percentage of their page hits and fan engagement from the tension of their supposed love triangle, and Headquarters had no desire to risk that by making any pair “official”. And the three together? That could be scandalous to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue over their projected careers.

Even in their secret civilian identities, Riku, Sora, and Kairi didn’t dare make their relationship known. None of them wanted to risk the Defenders of the Light finding out, resulting in reassignment, or some negative turn for one or more of them in a planned storyline.

So they took advantage of the privacy they made for themselves. Kairi rented this small apartment under a false name; an identity that even the Defenders of the Light didn’t know about. Riku’s ability to open the dark corridors was a very useful way to sneak them in and out without detection. Since it had—barely—been made illegal for organizations like the Defenders of the Light to track Heroes once they were off-duty, it was the safest the three of them might ever be from discovery.

Kairi had promised herself that she would never take it for granted.

Sora’s bruise was the most visible injury either man had, but Kairi still took the opportunity given by bared skin to check them both over. It had become habit, their romance always interspersed with the checks, the reassurance that yes, all three of them were whole and here and okay. They each mapped new spots to be careful of, while cataloguing the places that had healed.

Her hands ghosted over the scar on Sora’s chest, just over his heart. Riku traced the faded lines a Heartless’ claws had left across her back. Kairi’s fingers tangled with Sora’s as they both skimmed over burn scars spread down Riku’s shoulder.

And this was how she knew they’d been scared, too. That they weren’t quite as unshaken as they appeared. Because Riku was pressing her down into the mattress like he thought he wasn’t going to get another chance, and Sora was holding her hand so tightly it verged on painful. Riku placed a hot kiss on her neck, and then Sora was pulling him back, hand fisted in long, silver hair, seeking his own desperate kiss with him. Probably their first opportunity since the patrol.

A few bits of light sparked off of her hands, briefly haloing the pair of them. It had been completely unconscious, but Sora laughed, as he leaned down to kiss her, too. Riku’s knee was in between hers, his hips already pushing them into a rhythm, grinding against each others’ thighs. Sora pushed close next to them, Riku putting a hand on him to help bring him into their same rhythm.

Kairi was the first one to hitch in the motion, barely stifling a cry as someone’s hand helped her along, and suddenly all three of them had little sparks of multi-hued light flickering over their skin. Sora and Riku followed her over that edge, and they all collapsed, not ready to get up or move away yet. That was all right, they had time. Kairi listened to both Riku and Sora’s breath slow and deepen as they fell asleep, and she dozed with them.

-

Kairi was unsurprisingly the first to wake up. Letting the boys sleep, she went back to the couch and pulled up her usual feed of mingled news and blog posts. She half-dreaded what she was going to find, but if anyone had even a hint of something major coming up…

She’d carefully curated her list of sites to check. Included were, of course, the official sources that would provide the “genuine record” of every Defenders of the Light (and affiliated and allied groups) Hero action. Down to the most minor of Heroes, every patrol, altercation, apprehension, and team-up would be recorded and reported. She also checked most of the local sources, since those more prominently featured the big headlines for the three of them and the other Heroes they worked with. But until an official announcement was made, none of those sites would have new information to provide.

And then there were the blogs, with their wide variety of quality and scope. Some were little more than fast-updating tabloids, filled with clickbait and doctored photos, but those could still be useful to follow from an image-management standpoint. Same with some of the fansites, which provided insight into public perception and what they liked to see. While none of the Heroes had the ability to completely control their own image—as evidenced by Riku’s current concern—all of them knew how to work within the constraints they were given.

Her favorites, and the ones most likely to give her something now, were the more serious blogs: independent news sources not beholden to the whims of Headquarters. They often drew conclusions that the Defenders of the Light were unwilling to acknowledge or even actively tried to hide. Headquarters had to—maybe grudgingly—tolerate the existence of those blogs, or risk making obvious their own tight control over the Heroes they employed.

She probably _shouldn’t_ have been as glad about those blogs existing as she was, but sometimes she was frustrated by the information Headquarters chose to conceal. Plus, Headquarters had _allegedly_ found their own use for these independent sources: by occasionally leaking a story to these blogs, they could essentially outsource the marketing of upcoming events and team-ups. They would never admit they did that, but it certainly allowed hype to build in a way that seemed much more organic than if an official outlet was the first to tease it.

And there it was, one semi-innocuous headline: _Incoming? Unverified Reports of Mysterious Creatures._

She read on:

_While none of the sightings have been reflected in the official reports, multiple sources have mentioned off the record that there have been a new type of creature encountered by Heroes on patrol. We’re told these creatures are_ not _Heartless, those relics of a previous crisis, though they appear equally inhuman._

_One source mentioned that they could be heralding some new, broader threat. “I feel like they might be the first wave of something more. They seem to be intelligent, despite their apparent violence. This could be the kind of thing that will redefine our concepts of Hero and Villain, if we’re brought into a conflict against something this unknown.”_

Well, there was that line Riku had quoted earlier. She frowned, skimming the article for any more information. The rest was just drawing the obvious parallels between the last major Event, the Heartless Crisis, where the Heartless had first appeared, and these new creatures.

Riku stepped up and brushed a hand over her hair. “Hey.”

She looked back up at him. “Just looking through the blogs.”

“Find anything?”

“Nothing you hadn’t already heard. Found that pull quote, the ‘redefine concepts of hero and villain’ one…” she trailed off.

Riku sighed. “Do you think I’m overreacting?”

“I don’t know. I do understand why you’re worried.” After a pause, she continued, “But it could mean something else. To me, it reads more like they anticipate a team-up with some current Villains, in some kind of an ‘enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend’ deal. Banding together against a new threat.”

“I hope so,” Riku said. Then, “Want something to eat? I was going to make something quick before we have to head home.”

“Sure. I’ll have whatever you feel like making.”

She listened to Riku pulling out utensils and food from the fridge and she glanced over the article again. She hoped she was right. The lines between Hero and Villain did often feel artificial, knowing how often interactions were guided and scripted by Headquarters. That didn’t mean it would be comfortable or pleasant for any of them to be on opposite sides again.

She heard eggs being cracked into a bowl, a whisk mixing them, and the hiss of food hitting a hot pan.

Even if she was right, that nothing truly bad would come of this “Event,” it still didn’t remove the anxiety. And that anxiety was probably at least double for him. So she closed her laptop, moving to the kitchen.

She pulled herself up onto the counter, barely out of the way, just watching Riku cook. She swung her feet, bouncing her heels into the lower cabinet.

“Spatula.” Riku held out a hand.

She set the requested utensil in his hand. “Yes, doctor.” She was rewarded with a quirk of his mouth.

Like magic, the smell of scrambled eggs summoned Sora out of sleep, and he joined them, still trailing the blanket behind him.

“Smells good.” He stifled a yawn.

“Figured we could do dinner before heading home,” Riku said.

“Feels like home to me,” Sora grumbled. “But dinner still sounds good.”

Riku dished up plates, and they took them back to the couch in the living room. A kitchen table and chairs were still on the list for future additions to the secret apartment.

Once they were about halfway through their meal, Riku put down his fork. “If I find out anything about this Event, if they do tell me I’m going to be switching alliances or anything, I’ll tell you. I know we aren’t allowed to discuss assignments or plotlines or anything, but I _will_ tell you. And I’ll give you some signal before it actually happens.”

Sora reached over and grabbed his hand. “Of course you will. And _if_ it comes to that, Kairi and I will still be dutifully _shocked._ ”

“We are pretty good actors,” Kairi agreed. “Let’s hope that’s a plan for nothing, but of course we’ll always tell each other.” She reached out and grabbed Riku’s other hand.

He squeezed it back before very deliberately turning back to his food and changing the subject. “I assume you both want a ride home?”

Sora nodded, and Kairi smiled. “Can’t beat your travel time.”

-

The dark corridor opened into Kairi’s “real” bedroom, in the little stand-alone apartment behind her parents’ house. Riku and Sora stepped through with her, though Riku’s doorway remained open behind them.

Sora pulled her into a hug and gave her a quick peck on the lips, and Riku did the same.

“Goodnight,” she said, as they stepped back into the corridor.

“Talk to you tomorrow,” Riku said, as Sora blew a kiss.

Then the tunnel closed, leaving Kairi alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance and Keyblade head out on a patrol.

* * *

_ Confidential: For Defenders of the Light internal circulation only _

**Keyblade**

Age: 23

Age of power manifestation: presumed 12

Civilian identity: UNKNOWN

Hero type: Magical artifact

Power set: Has a unique weapon, the “keyblade”, which he can manifest and dismiss at will. The keyblade is a gold key that functions similarly to a sword, though it is not sharp. It is made of an unknown material, and nothing seems capable of doing any lasting damage to the manifested weapon. He described the appearance of the keyblade as it having “chosen” him. While he can allow others to hold the weapon, and even use it for limited periods of time, he does so very rarely. Attempts to disarm him are generally unsuccessful, as he can merely remanifest the weapon back in his hand.

Profile: Keyblade presented himself to the Defenders of the Light at age 13, alongside Corridor, requesting to be made a Hero. The manifestation of his power had not been under Defenders of the Light surveillance. After testing his abilities, he was accepted as a team member. Because his powers had already fully manifested, and the Defenders of the Light did not need to cultivate them further, giving his identity was a voluntary action that he did not choose to take. Due to legal restrictions, _no attempts should be made_ to discover his identity. Has close friendship and prefers to team up with fellow Heroes Corridor and Radiance.

* * *

“I have to say, I don’t think my powers are the ideal set right now,” Radiance muttered.

Keyblade snorted, the wordless response still coming clear over the official radio.

Their mission for the night was a stakeout... Sort of. The frustrating kind that didn’t even have a guaranteed altercation at the end. Not that Radiance was spoiling for a fight, but it was hard to get viewership when all you did was sit there in the dark, waiting to see if a bad guy was going to show up or not.

Her powers being light-based made things like this particularly challenging. She’d had years of Defenders of the Light Hero training getting every spark and flare under control, but it was still an intrinsic part of her. It took serious effort to keep some stray glint of it from giving her position away. Even in her regular civilian life she didn’t have to dampen it down to this degree; ordinarily, a little flicker was easily brushed off as a reflection off of jewelry, or a trick of the eye.

She shifted, leaning against the wall under the bridge where she was currently hidden, and grimaced as she felt water soak through the back of her costume. Gross.

“Have you seen anything?” she asked. Keyblade would have told her if he had, but she was getting desperate. He was on the side of the park that at least saw more use.

_“Six ducks, four geese, and two people walking some really cute dogs,”_ he deadpanned back.

“Valuable intelligence, Hero.” 

_“Best I’ve got.”_

“I don’t even have that much.” She groaned. “Should we find a new spot to keep watch? It’s been close to an hour, and we haven’t seen anything. I’m all for protecting the park, but we’ve already passed the point where we have many civilians around _to_ protect.”

There was a beat of silence, as if he was thinking it over, before he replied, _“Wait! I think I see something.”_

“Oh?” She stood up a little straighter, ready to rush to his position.

_“This person has an extra fluffy dog.”_

Radiance relaxed. “Jerk.” She laughed fondly. Her laughter almost disguised the sudden fuzz on the radio. It certainly meant she wasn’t expecting the bridge to collapse.

She saw a brief flash of white, but couldn’t even focus on what it was before the cement and stone of the bridge came down around her, knocking her flat.

Enough practice and training made curling in on herself an immediate instinct, trying to present the smallest and most protected target possible, even as everything collapsed. Heavy slabs of material struck her back, and she didn’t need anything catching a limb and breaking a bone.

_“Kai-_ Radiance _?”_ Keyblade’s voice was panicked through the radio, barely audible through the thick static, hopefully distorted enough to disguise the near non-codename slip.

“I’m fine,” she choked out before actually doing an inventory of potential injuries. Fortunately, she hadn’t just lied; nothing felt broken or cut. She tried to get up, but didn’t get far. “I think my leg is stuck, though,” she was forced to amend.

The static had faded from the radio, and she looked around, trying to catch sight of what had caused the bridge collapse. She didn’t hear any cries or screams, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the deserted state of the park, despite having just been cursing it.

After determining she wasn’t in immediate danger, she reassessed her leg. Definitely not broken, but trapped under enough rubble it was going to be difficult to move. Keyblade could probably use his namesake as leverage to help her get free.

_“Where are you?”_ his voice came over the radio.

“Right here,” she answered, sending up a multicolored flare of light.

It would have been easiest if Corridor were with them, since he could have been next to her in an instant. Keyblade still made it over to her as quickly as possible, considering super-speed and teleportation weren’t part of his power set.

He wedged the keyblade under the slab of concrete holding the rest in place, and leaned heavily into it. Radiance felt the rubble around her leg shift as the giant key scraped against it. Despite the keyblade’s relative thinness, it would come through unscathed; they’d yet to find anything mundane that could even scratch it, and they’d tried titanium, diamonds…

Finally there was enough space for her to pull free, and she scrambled to her feet with a helping hand from Keyblade.

“What happened?” he asked, doing a quick visual confirmation that she hadn’t been severely injured.

“The bridge collapsed. It was so sudden, I don’t know what caused it.” Radiance spared a thought for Riku, possibly glued to their radio signal as closely as she had been, just as petrified, waiting to hear of something happening when he couldn’t be there to see. “I’m fine, just bruises and a scrape or two.”

“No one else was under or on the bridge when it fell,” Keyblade said. “So that’s a relief. Headquarters knows now, of course, so I’m sure they’ve called it in. But there was no warning?”

She shook her head, but as she thought back, her whole back went cold. “Actually, I thought I saw something. Just a flash of white, and the radio went a little fuzzy.”

“Well, shi-,” Keyblade bit the curse off before straying into reprimand territory. Headquarters didn’t like having to censor the footage they put out, since it drew attention to the fact it had been edited. “You know what that sounds like, right?”

Radiance nodded. _Unverified reports of mysterious creatures._ “It could have been intentional, if something was targeting me. But if anyone else had been there, it could have hurt them.”

“It could easily have hurt _you_.”

Radiance stretched, pulling herself up onto her toes and rolling her shoulders. It was a good stretch, flattering to her silhouette for the cameras she was certain were getting footage of her right now, while also letting her make sure nothing was stiff or not moving the way it should.

She flashed a smile at Keyblade, hoping the cameras would catch that, too. “Well, then we should go hunting.”

-

It didn’t take long to find the… things. The description she’d gotten from Riku and Sora after their encounter was accurate: vaguely humanoid white figures that could drift along weightlessly, then attack with surprising force.

Something in the way they moved reminded Radiance of the Heartless, motions that were just a _little_ too inhuman, just slightly off from the motion of a normal person or animal, approaching that uncanny valley that made her skin crawl.

There were three of the creatures here, deeper in the trees along the deserted jogging path. Keyblade immediately engaged one, and drew it away. With him out of her immediate range, Radiance flung her hand out and let a bright arc of blinding light whip toward the second of them. The light didn’t even slow it down. It drifted lazily, but against the breeze, directly toward her.

“Well, crap,” she said as she danced backward, only to be blindsided by the third of the monsters crashing into her.

She scrabbled at the loose leaf litter, trying to regain her feet, as the one that had ignored her light flare reoriented toward her, an arm growing too long and sharp.

She rolled to avoid the stab, and managed not to get run through, but the sharp pain blooming along her ribcage proved she’d still been too slow.

At least she was back on her feet, though she overbalanced on the unsteady ground. She turned the awkward overbalance into a forward somersault, which also saved her from another strike that just missed the back of her head.

The creatures made no sound, again like the Heartless, adding both to their eeriness and the danger they presented. And apparently her powers were useless against the damn things. Not that she should have been surprised her light didn’t affect them; the monsters didn’t even appear to _have_ eyes.

“Keyblade, how are you doing over there?” Radiance called, ducking between two trees, trying to get some obstacles between her and these things. Their ability to float, not even bound by air currents, gave them a completely unfair advantage.

“Never better!” he answered lightly. That meant _not great_ , but they always had to project unconcerned and upbeat appearances. Lighthearted quips and seemingly effortless maneuvers sold far more ad space than frustration or mere practicality.

“Want to help me with these two, then?”

“Bring ‘em this way!”

She cut to the side, heading toward Keyblade’s voice. She heard a grunt of effort from him and then a sound of triumph. Finally able to risk taking her eyes off her direct path, she saw him brandishing the keyblade, the remains of the creature he’d been facing off against fading away to nothing.

He turned when he heard her footsteps, and she ducked down into another somersault, this one pushing her up into a handspring that let her land just behind and to his side, a stance that let them guard each other’s backs.

“Show-off.” His voice was mild, but she could still hear the suppressed smile.

“Maybe,” she answered, and then there was little opportunity for banter, as the other two creatures closed the distance between them.

-

It was close to one in the morning by the time Keyblade and Radiance stumbled back to Defenders of the Light Headquarters, the mysterious creatures finally defeated. Radiance was the worst off of the two of them: that strike that had landed along her side had left a long, fortunately shallow, wound. Keyblade had a couple new scrapes and bruises, but nothing that wouldn’t heal in a day or two.

Since even Radiance’s injury had closed, they went straight to debrief, rather than stopping for medical attention first.

This time of night, it was one of the many interchangeable lab assistants who took their report.

“The creatures were the same as the ones that attacked Corridor and me yesterday,” Keyblade explained.

“Can you describe them?” The man said, not even looking up from the tablet he was keying their report into.

“I did. Yesterday.”

“Can you describe them _again_ , please?”

Keyblade sighed, and dutifully described the creatures.

“Any casualties?” the man said, flicking at the screen to bring up a new form.

“Property damage, mostly,” Radiance said. “The bridge in Overland Park collapsed. I’m fairly certain it was the creatures that caused that. I assume the collapse was reported, though I don’t know if anyone has taken a look yet.”

“The Defenders of the Light alerted the authorities to the damaged bridge. Anything else? Injuries?”

Radiance stood up and lifted her arm, so the assistant could see the long tear in her costume top and the mostly-dried blood below it across her ribcage.

It took a moment before he looked up, but when he did, he frowned. “I will alert both Medical and Supply that you’ll be stopping by. You need to be certain that doesn’t get infected, and you’ll clearly need a costume repair. Actually…” he paused, tapping at the screen. “Supply has a note that you’re both due to see them.”

“Can it wait until tomorrow?” Radiance deliberately glanced toward the clock on the wall. It was edging toward one-thirty.

“Supply is staffed now,” the assistant said, unconcerned, moving to stand. “You’re both dismissed. Radiance, you will be expected at Medical within the next ten minutes. Keyblade, you may head directly to Supply if you don’t require Medical. We appreciate your service Defending the Light, and keeping our city a safer place.”

In the deserted, fluorescent-lit hallway, Radiance let her shoulders slump. “I just want to go home, boil myself in a hot shower, and sleep for three days.”

Keyblade caught up to her and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “I know the feeling. I’ll come with you to Medical.”

She thought about pulling away from the daring contact—keeping up appearances—but she was grateful for the touch, and she decided to risk it.

There were no other Heroes in Medical, since Radiance and Keyblade had been the only two on late patrol. A dispassionate nurse swabbed out the cut with something that stung. She pronounced that it didn’t need stitches, but that Radiance “should be more careful in the future” and directed her to keep it covered and cushioned for the next several days.

Before the nurse let them leave, she reminded Radiance that she was overdue for a regular medical appointment, and extracted a promise that Radiance would make that appointment soon.

Once they were back in the halls, Keyblade asked, “Didn’t you just have a medical appointment? Why do they need to see you again?”

She shrugged. “Seems like we’re all in and out of appointments practically constantly.”

“I guess,” he said, though he didn’t sound completely convinced.

But all of the Heroes were expected to keep up with regular medical checkups. Radiance wasn’t sure she was subjected to any more than the rest of them.

By the time the pair even made it to Supply, Radiance was ready to fall asleep on her feet. Keyblade was whisked away into one room, while Radiance was taken into another.

A tired-looking woman had Radiance stand on a low stool while she used a measuring tape to take measurements of every dimension conceivable. Radiance complied with directions to raise and lower her arms, to shift her weight, to turn and bend, even as she stifled yawns. If it went much longer she was afraid she might topple off the stool and just fall asleep right on the floor.

The woman wrote the last of the measurements down on her clipboard. “Before your next mission, we’ll have a replacement costume for you, which will be delivered to your agreed-upon drop location. We wouldn’t want a Hero out on the street looking anything less than presentable. You should be more careful in the future.”

Radiance nodded through another yawn at the repeated advice, and took her opportunity to escape.

Keyblade was waiting outside the door, stifling a yawn of his own.

“What did they need you for?” Radiance asked. His costume had been fine, aside from a bit of dirt, which he was perfectly capable of taking care of.

“Remeasuring apparently. Not sure why they needed to do that _now._ ”

Radiance felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “They remeasured me, too. That shouldn’t have been necessary for just a cut in the fabric. They _have_ the measurements for my costume.” She hadn’t really thought about it, just focusing on getting through it so she could get home and sleep. But now she was putting an uncomfortable two and two together.

Keyblade groaned as the same thought apparently occurred to him. “Do you think it’s…” he trailed off. “ _You know._ ”

She did know what he was reluctant to mention while they were here in the Headquarters building. It was a common joke that it was built out of more cameras and mics than wood or drywall. “I’m betting so.”

“New costumes?” Neutral enough phrasing.

She nodded. One more tick in the “definitely an Event starting up” column.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance and Corridor head out on an assignment. And the trio receives a threat from Headquarters.

* * *

_Confidential: For Defenders of the Light internal circulation only_

**Corridor**

Age: 24

Age of power manifestation: 14

Civilian identity: Riku Miyano

Hero type: Elemental/spatial

Power set: Corridor opens what have been termed “dark corridors,” which serve as doorways from one point in space to another. The corridors must be traversed: it does not open an immediate portal or doorway from one place to another, but the distance between entrance and exit points is greatly reduced. The way the distance scales is not perfectly consistent, but one test found that crossing the length of the city took approximately 50 seconds. Corridor must have been to the place he is attempting to travel to, suggesting that his conception of a place is part of what allows the passage to be opened. He can bring other people with him through these passageways.

Profile: Corridor’s powers manifested at 14 and his family immediately brought him to the Defenders of the Light for training. He may have known Keyblade prior to this, as they came together to the Defenders of the Light. He served as a member of the team for a few years without incident, though at age 16 became a villain during the Heartless Crisis. He was brought back to the Defenders of the Light, and it is believed that his past mistakes are genuinely behind him. Has close friendships and most frequently partners with Keyblade and Radiance.

* * *

Radiance ran down the neighborhood street, dodging overgrown landscaping and uneven bits of sidewalk. Glancing to the left proved that Corridor was keeping good pace with her on the other side of the street. He could have used a dark corridor to jump ahead, but their current target was a human thief, fleeing on foot after he’d been caught stealing packages off of porches. No need to bring out the real powers just yet.

_“Why do idiots like this ever think they’ll get away with it?”_ Corridor’s voice came clearly through the speaker in her ear.

“Who knows? Think he’s new in town?” She carefully controlled her voice to ensure there wasn’t even a hint that she was breathing heavily. She could keep up this pace for a long time, and wasn’t winded in the slightest. Unfortunately the cut on her side was still pulling uncomfortably, and a wrong breath could draw all the wrong kind of headlines. She didn’t have any desire to read a flurry of ‘local heroine out of shape?’ thinkpieces.

Corridor’s answering laugh was rich and drew a smile out on her own face. _“We could introduce him around.”_

“At the very least we’ll give him a reminder of how to be a polite neighbor.”

They were gaining steadily on their target at this point. The houses to either side were on slightly raised terraces, providing no easy alternate routes, just funneling them straight ahead.

Another half of a block, and an alleyway opened up on Radiance’s side of the street, the tall brick houses on either side leaving a gap too narrow for cars, but just wide enough for a person to run through. Their thief tried to do just that, and Radiance saw Corridor make a sharp gesture as he ran, a dark portal opening ahead of him, and vanishing as he ran through.

She rounded the corner into the alleyway just in time to see his reappearance. He’d certainly had plenty of time and practice to perfect the dramatic flair of a good reentrance. She actually almost felt bad for this and any other prospective criminal: being faced with a portal of deep black opening in the space ahead, a tall, black-masked man stepping through it. Corridor’s costume, combined with his naturally-unnatural looks could have strayed toward vampiric, but the fitted black jacket and pants managed a much more modern look. It was still extremely menacing, and made it clear why Corridor was so good at treading the anti-hero line.

It was comical the way the man they’d been pursuing backpedaled, almost cartoonish in the attempt to halt his momentum.

Radiance snapped her fingers, letting a shower of sparks from her direction flash into the target’s face as he attempted to turn. It didn’t do any damage, but the bright flash was disorienting as hell, and he fell hard to his knees onto the damp ground with a squawk.

Corridor was the one to actually apprehend the man, pulling him up from the ground and pulling his arms back into a secure hold. 

_“And cut! Nicely done, all. Hold for the next scene,”_ the call came in through her earpiece. Corridor let go of their ‘criminal’ and flashed her a thumbs up, having gotten the same message.

“Done in one long take. Not too bad,” she said, offering her hand to shake hands with the actor who’d been playing their target.

“Pleasure to be captured by you,” he answered with a grin.

_“Cop cars approaching,”_ came the warning over the earpiece.

Corridor grabbed the man again, bodily hauling him out of the alley entrance and back to the street, to film the ‘handoff’ where they turned him over to the mundane police.

That was also managed in a single take, and then everyone went their separate ways; the cops back to their duties, the actor to get paid, and Corridor and Radiance onto a real patrol.

“Do we ever face criminals that _normal_ outside of these little films?” Corridor asked, as the pair walked together toward a commercial district.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure how many people are foolish enough to risk that kind of thing on Hero-patrolled streets.” She managed to keep a grimace off her face at how pithy that had sounded. That clip was probably destined for multiple local broadcasts about crime prevention. Without Corridor’s prior comment, of course.

Most of the footage the Defenders of the Light released was actual footage from patrols and real altercations. However, they periodically filmed them in fully scripted events like the one today, and they certainly didn’t want to advertise that _any_ of their stories were entirely made up. 

Radiance wasn’t terribly fond of these particular ‘episodes,’ but she understood why Headquarters had the Heroes perform them. Sometimes it was to address particular kinds of crime that they hoped to deter, like so-called porch piracy, sometimes it was just to pad slow news days.

They’d reached the commercial district. A few people smiled and waved as they passed. Heroes were a common enough sight on the streets that they weren’t often mobbed by fans, but they still attracted notice.

“Should we get a better vantage point?” Corridor asked, offering his hand.

Radiance took it with a smile, and he pulled them both through a dark doorway. The immediate vertigo subsided quickly as they stepped out onto the roof of one of the buildings they’d passed.

The two of them standing near the edge of the roof probably looked very dramatic and heroic, Riku’s all-black sharp silhouette contrasting with the white, pink, and gold of her costume. She hoped the Defenders of the Light were getting some B-roll footage for the piece they’d just filmed.

She scanned the street below them, looking for anywhere the pattern of pedestrians faltered, knots that could signify brewing fights or other altercations. They didn’t have to get involved with every bickering couple or heated exchange of words, but they would intercede if things got physical. Heroes couldn’t be everywhere at once, but just knowing that _sometimes_ they could help made a difference.

Corridor stepped even closer, shoulder brushing hers. She smiled up at him and he reached over to adjust a strand of hair that had come loose and was drifting in front of her mask. She revised her hope that they were being filmed; instead, she wished they could speak without being recorded.

They heard a distant shout, not from the street they’d been watching, but from the opposite direction. Behind the buildings, or maybe the next block over.

Both of them were off at a run, whatever unspoken things they wished they could say forgotten for the moment.

One leap from the first rooftop to the next, and they found the source of the scream: a teenage girl. Three Shadow Heartless bobbed and shifted around her, backing her farther into a corner between a vacant store and a chain-link fence surrounding a parking lot. But even as they watched, more Shadows materialized out of the ground around her, bubbling up from anywhere natural shadows fell.

Radiance leapt down to her rescue, judging a spot she could land from the single-story roof without hurting herself, and trusting Corridor to do the same.

The Heartless were a familiar target, and her light powers were decidedly _not_ useless against them. One bright arc of light sliced from her hand outward, cutting one of the Shadows in half, and it disintegrated.

Then Corridor was there, a long knife drawn and at the ready. The Heartless refocused on them, and the girl was able to run, a breathless “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” following her as she ran for her car in the lot.

Once she was safely away, Radiance turned her full attention to the small band of Heartless. “Hey creeps, looks like your easy prey got away. Guess you’ll have to try us!”

“Bring it!” Corridor shouted, with a rush at the center of the group, knife swinging out to cut through one of the figures.

As the Heartless attempted to mob him, Radiance threw out a fractured beam of light, zapping into several of them, and bringing some of their attention to her. Then they each had their own group to contend with.

She _could_ have taken her group out a bit faster and more efficiently than she did, but she opted for a few showier blasts with her powers and a couple more acrobatic-looking dodges. She still cleared out her group before Corridor did, and fell back to play support in case he needed it.

She recognized he was doing the same thing she had, giving himself opportunities to show off his speed and flexibility, and she wouldn’t deprive him of that.

They came together to simultaneously destroy the final Heartless, Radiance sending a ray of light to dance and spark along Corridor’s knife, cutting through that final Shadow with a flare that she once again hoped would be caught on camera.

Corridor put up a hand and Radiance gave him a high-five. Both of them laughed a bit, coming down from the adrenaline of a good fight.

“Back to the roofs?” Corridor asked, and the pair continued their patrol.

-

The rest of the patrol was uneventful after the fight with the Heartless.

The report went more smoothly than the one the previous night. It wasn’t after midnight, and there were no injuries to report, and Heartless were so standard now as to be boring. It was a different assistant taking the information down, but she was equally anonymous, robotically running through the same questions.

“We appreciate you Defending the Light and making our city a safer place.”

Corridor and Radiance both stood up, accepting the standard dismissal, but the lab assistant cleared her throat. When Radiance glanced back, she said, “There’s been a small conference called. Both of you are to report to room 229.”

“What about?” Corridor asked.

“You’ll be informed once you arrive,” the woman said. “Please proceed directly there.”

He shrugged. “All right.”

Neither of them spoke as they navigated the antiseptic white hallways. The second mandatory activity Radiance had been called to after reporting, in less than 24 hours, when that kind of thing wasn’t particularly common. She didn’t want to speculate what they wanted this time.

Keyblade was waiting for them when they opened the door to the conference room.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Thought you were off today.” Corridor crossed the small room and clapped Keyblade on the shoulder before falling into the seat next to him.

“I thought so too. But I got word that Headquarters wanted me for an announcement, and I’ve been waiting for the two of you to get your lazy butts back here.”

“Says the one who _wasn’t_ patrolling,” Radiance teased, quickly shoving aside a burst of anxiety that he’d been called to this meeting as well. She sank into the third seat. “We just finished our report.”

“How was today?”

“Some filming at the beginning, a group of Shadows later, all pretty ordinary,” Corridor answered.

Keyblade nodded and turned toward Radiance. “And how’s your side? Healing okay?”

“Not too bad. Just a little sore.”

Their opportunity for small talk was cut off as the door opened and Xehanort stepped in.

All three scrambled to their feet. Radiance resisted the urge to curtsey, even though her costume didn’t have the right kind of skirt for it.

“Sir,” Corridor said. Radiance was only slightly gratified that she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t quite sure what to do with him here.

Xehanort was the current head of the Defenders of the Light, overseeing all of the organization’s daily functions, from the surveillance and the press releases to the media, to its ongoing research. He’d started as a researcher, all but adopted by the Defenders of the Light’s previous leader, Ansem. Under Xehanort’s tenure, the organization had started to focus on superhuman abilities and how they manifested.

“Patrol went well today?” he asked, fixing his intense gaze on Corridor and Radiance in turn.

“Yes sir,” Radiance answered.

“Good. But it seems like all three of you could use a reminder that you are _never_ to put forth hints about romantic connections between any of you, unless the Defenders of the Light direct you to do so.”

Radiance was taken aback. They knew that was the official position, of course, but for the head of the entire organization to feel the need to bring it up directly? It wasn’t like any of them were sneaking off of patrol to make out in a dark corner. They were all aware of the need to keep things _professional_.

“I’m sorry, sir?” Keyblade cut in, making his question obvious. “I wasn’t aware that we’d done anything that may have appeared… inappropriate.”

Xehanort pulled up an article on his tablet screen and showed it to them.

Radiance couldn’t read most of the text, but the headline was _“‘Bladiance’ Romance heating up?”_ and she could see two images from her patrol with Keyblade the night before. One was Keyblade clasping Radiance’s arm, helping her up from the rubble of the bridge. The other was a slightly grainy image of them walking together down the stairs outside the Headquarters building, presumably after they’d finished their reports.

“And then, of course, Corridor felt the need to one-up that display.” Xehanort flicked his fingers across the screen and pulled up a new page.

This one was a lovely, high-definition still from that moment on the roof a couple hours back where Corridor had fixed a strand of Radiance’s hair.

Radiance bit her tongue to keep from saying something she shouldn’t. From a certain angle it might have looked like he cradled her face, but nothing more had happened. Keyblade had taken her arm to help her up. Corridor had brushed hair out of her face. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with that.

“Apologies, sir. It won’t happen again.” Corridor’s voice was cold and flat.

Radiance wanted to say something, though she wasn’t sure what, and she couldn’t seem to force any words out.

“Good. Now, I personally do not care what your feelings are out of costume. I am aware that you all have fanbases that hope for different things from you, and all three of you work well together. This is not about wishing to damage any of that. It’s in _all_ of our best interests to keep the public interested in all three of you as individuals and as teammates.”

“We were told never to confirm or deny anything romantic,” Radiance said. “That was the advice from the marketing department.”

“And they were correct. None of you are in trouble.” Xehanort smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “This is merely a reminder. If the Defenders of the Light are forced to acknowledge a relationship, it will place limitations on what the organization can do with you. Some of those limitations may not be ones you would enjoy. We’re simply interested in what’s best for _all_ of us.”

His voice softened just slightly. “I understand that this must be frustrating. But the Defenders of the Light are looking out for you. Perhaps someday it will not be a risk for you to… portray yourselves as you wish. But for now, we ask that you be mindful of the fact that we have a much better understanding of the market than you do. We have no desire to see you limit your potential.

“Radiance, Keyblade, you two are dismissed. Corridor, just a few more words, and then you’ll be free to go as well.”

-

Radiance and Keyblade waited, and Corridor joined them just a few minutes later. The fact that he was there meant they could leave Headquarters together without it being a “risk” that they be seen doing so.

He transported them all to the apartment, but none of them said anything for a bit, all changing out of their costumes, completing the transition from Heroic to civilian identities.

Kairi pulled up the tabloid article that Xehanort had shown them, wanting to read what it had actually said.

_ “Bladiance” Romance heating up? _

_It’s not exactly a typical walk in the park, but who would expect that for a pair of Superheroes?_

_Last night, a pair of local Heroes, Keyblade and Radiance, were seen patrolling Overland Park. While the night did reportedly end in a fight and some property damage to the Overland Park bridge, the pair spent a significant amount of time beforehand on their patrol together._

_When Radiance was nearly injured, Keyblade helped her up, resulting in a touching moment between the two. Some would say that’s expected between any teammates, but others have read into it more. How much meaning can be inferred from the length of time two Heroes touch? Or the speed with which they react to threats to each other? At what point is something evidence of a deeper bond?_

_Sources also say the pair left the Defenders of the Light Headquarters together in the small hours of the morning, which is less typical of an average partnership. Records indicate that only Radiance required a visit to medical staff. Did Keyblade stay with her because he’s a caring work partner? Or a loving boyfriend?_

_Regardless of varying explanations, this adds to longstanding rumors of a romantic connection between the two. They certainly team up frequently enough to make a romance plausible: over 40% of their individual team-ups are with each other._

_Of course, they each team up nearly as often with a third figure: hero-turned-villain-turned-hero Corridor. His interactions with Radiance have inspired rumors of involvement as well. Combined with Corridor and Keyblade’s apparent friendship, could the three heroes be looking at drama ahead?_

Sora leaned down over her shoulder and skimmed the article. “Ugh, did they get that second picture from a surveillance camera on the street?” He wrinkled his nose. “At least the first one looks like it was an official image.”

In a round-about way it was actually a little comforting that the Defenders of the Light hadn’t licensed out any of their official footage of the two of them walking down the stairs. They’d been in costume, so could have still been considered “on duty,” even though they’d been leaving for the night.

“At this point I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but the amount they’re reading into every gesture still astounds me,” Kairi said. _They_ meaning both the tabloids and the Defenders of the Light.

“And yet, they’re not actually wrong,” Riku said, leaning against the wall next to the couch.

Sora changed topics, all traces of levity gone, and asked, “That was a threat earlier, right?”

“‘We’ll limit your future plotlines and you won’t enjoy it,’ was pretty blatant,” Riku replied. “My guess is he was telling us that whoever is declared the third wheel would be written out in some fashion. Maybe they’ll make me a villain again. Or just transfer me to another organization.”

“What else did Xehanort say to you?” Kairi asked. None of them had talked about it on their way back.

He shook his head. “Just more about how there is a line between appropriate behavior toward a teammate and I have crossed it with both of you. I’m sorry for overstepping today.”

“You touched my _hair_.”

“And I won’t do it again.”

“Riku, don’t be like that,” Sora started.

“Be like what? Because you can apparently touch Radiance while the two of you are out. But the head of the goddamn organization comes down to lecture us when I do. Next time the two of _us_ interact, there’s probably going to be some moral outrage about forcing homosexuality on the youth or some shit.”

“Riku, they aren’t just targeting _you._ ”

“Aren’t they? Because Xehanort all but said this was about me ‘one-upping’ you, and then he held me back for a personal lecture.”

“Please, let’s not argue.” Tears stung the backs of Kairi’s eyes. “We’ll just be more careful, right? And we’ll all get through it.”

-

The three of them had a rare mutual morning off, so they’d spent the night in ‘their’ apartment. Riku was already out of bed when Kairi woke up, and she could hear the shower running.

She sat up and propped herself on the pillows before reaching for her laptop from the side table. Just to scroll through her usual feeds.

Her stomach plummeted as she scrolled past one of the more gossip-oriented blogs.

_ Jealousy Brewing for Super-team Trio? _

_Less than a day after Keyblade and Radiance set off rumors of further “Bladiance” involvement, we may have some news for our “DarkLight” fans as well. More small moments, but with this group being notoriously private about their relationships, can you blame us for reading into it?_

_Corridor and Radiance worked well together on their patrol, as usual, fighting a group of Heartless. But in a quiet moment between bursts of action, Corridor was seen tenderly touching Radiance’s face. It certainly looks like the kind of intimate moment stolen by a busy couple._

_So between the two, there’s plenty to speculate about! Were Corridor’s actions a reaction to the apparent closeness between Keyblade and Radiance? Was this unrelated, but still an attempt to “mark his territory,” so to speak? One-upping a romantic rival? Making it clear that interest is present?_

_And what of Corridor and Keyblade’s apparent friendship? They wouldn’t be the first duo to be broken up over the affections of a woman. Considering the evidence stacking up in just a few days, it seems some kind of fallout might be inevitable._

It took serious effort not to throw her laptop across the room. “Are you kidding me?” She should have been beyond surprise, and yet.

Sora groaned and stretched against the pillows and looked over. He made a grabby-hand gesture at her laptop. “What is it?”

She passed the computer over.

He skimmed through and made a face, flopping back to his pillows. “Even if they were right, why do they always assume that Corridor and I are going to start hating each other over it?”

Riku emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair. “Of course we’ll hate each other. Because this is middle school, and I’m not inviting you to my birthday anymore,” he deadpanned.

“Did you read the stupid article?” Kairi rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, it came across my phone when I woke up.” He shook his head. “They make it sound like I had my tongue down your throat in public or something. Do you think Xehanort told them directly what to write, or did he have an assistant do it?”

“What do you mean?” Sora asked, watching as Riku crossed over to the dresser.

“Do you really think they just happened to independently come up with a line about me ‘one-upping’ you?”

“Well, why would anyone at Headquarters do that?”

Riku turned around, and his expression was grim. “A reminder. They’re reminding us that they control our image. If we do anything they don’t approve of, or we disobey their ‘suggestions,’ they can absolutely skew the narrative. What blog would turn down the Headquarters of the Defenders of the Light, even as an off-the-record source?”

Kairi shut her laptop with a snap. “It could be a coincidence. They made their position clear enough yesterday, but also told us that it was just a warning. That we weren’t in trouble. So why would they do this, too?”

“We agreed yesterday it was a threat. Are you really saying you don’t think that anymore? That it was ‘just a warning?’”

Kairi let out a slow breath. “No, I’m not saying that. But I don’t like the thought that they’d do something to hurt us before we even had the chance to change it.”

“Either way,” Sora interrupted, “we agreed to be careful. Whether this is an extra threat or not, we’re going to do that, right?”

Kairi nodded.

“We play nice,” Riku agreed. “We do everything just like they want us to, and we weather whatever this big Event is. After that, maybe we’ll be in a better position.”

-

Late that night, when Kairi returned “home,” to her real, registered address, there were a pair of envelopes on her bed.

Beautiful yet precise calligraphy addressed the top one to “Radiance.” She frowned and picked it up. Obviously, it had to be from Headquarters. The nearly-identical envelope underneath was addressed to Keyblade.

She tore open the high-quality parchment paper envelope, and pulled out the enclosed letter. It was written in the same scrolling handwriting, on more stationary that felt like a physical manifestation of wealth. It probably would have cost less to literally just write it out on money.

_Dear Radiance,_

_You are invited to an event to be held tomorrow evening at the Defenders of the Light Headquarters building. This is a semi-formal, costumed event, so you are expected to wear your formal variant costume. This is a press event, providing an opportunity for the Defenders of the Light to present current research developments and future initiatives, as well as a chance for our individual Heroes to be interviewed._

_You will be expected at the Headquarters building no later than 5:30 tomorrow evening, with the event itself scheduled to begin at 6:30. No formal meal will be served, though refreshments will be provided._

_We look forward to your attendance,_

_The Defenders of the Light_

_P.S.: Please deliver the second invitation to Keyblade, as we could not ensure his agreed drop point would be checked by tomorrow, and his attendance is also expected._

Kairi winced as she realized she’d bitten her lip badly enough to draw blood. This type of lower-case-e-event was certainly not unheard of, though it had been ages since there’d been anything calling for their formal costumes. What was strange about this was the lack of notice. Usually a press event would have garnered attention for a week or more beforehand, with speculation running rampant about what might be revealed.

_Revealed… like an Event with a_ capital _E?_

Kairi fished in her shoulder bag and pulled out a thin, off-brand cell phone from an interior pocket. She dialed Sora’s number by memory, since there was nothing saved in this phone. It was an unlisted, no-contract thing, as was the phone attached to the number she’d dialed for Sora. Riku had one, too.

The Defenders of the Light weren’t technically allowed to monitor their Heroes’ cell phone use. That didn’t mean they never did. These phones weren’t as secret as the trio’s apartment, or the low-tech radio transmitters, but it was less risky than using the phones the organization knew about.

Sora picked up on the fourth ring, just when Kairi was starting to get antsy, since she wouldn’t be able to leave a voicemail.

“Hello?” His voice wasn’t nearly as warm and bubbly as usual, at best sounding slightly irritated. Ready to tell a telemarketer off if need be.

“It’s me,” she said. “So… I have something for you.” She flopped backwards onto her bed, holding the invitation up like it would tell her something new.

“Oh, hey,” his voice immediately relaxed before: “Wait, what?” 

“A letter from our employers. An invitation to a formal costumed event for the press tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Yep, starting at 5:30. We are _invited_ , but our presence is _expected._ ”

“So decidedly _not_ optional. Want to read me what it says?”

Kairi opened his invitation, which did contain identical information, minus the postscript. She read it, then added, “They asked me to tell you, since they didn’t know if you’d check your drop point soon enough.”

“Thanks. Ugh, do you think this is it? The dreaded announcement?”

“Could be.” She rolled onto her side. “Should I call him?” They were careful never to use their names on these lines, even if the rest of the conversation had already been damning, but she knew Sora would know whom she meant.

“I’ll call him,” Sora answered, and she could hear the smile in his tone. “See you tomorrow evening, all fancied up.”

“See you.” She hung up the phone, and stared at the blank screen until the backlight timed out. Finally she dragged herself up to get ready for bed, already feeling the weight of the next day.

Once she finally climbed under the covers, hoping for the kind of sleep that would leave her ready to face whatever was coming next, she checked her “secret” phone again.

One text, from Sora’s unlisted number. Four words.

_“He didn’t get one.”_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance and Keyblade attend a formal press event.

* * *

_From the official website for the Defenders of the Light:_

**The Defenders of the Light current roster and their powers:**

Director:  
Xehanort – dimensional

Active Heroes:  
Trickshot – enhanced ability: speed + accuracy  
Lancer – elemental: wind  
Stalwart – enhanced ability: strength  
Lunar Phase – enhanced ability: strength and speed tied to lunar cycle  
Fire Dancer – elemental: fire  
Nocturne – elemental: water + sound, controlled vocally  
Gambler – mental: can view probability  
Thorn – elemental: plant life  
Nymph – elemental: electricity  
Keyblade – magical artifact: the “keyblade”  
Corridor – elemental: darkness + spatial manipulation  
Radiance – dimensional/elemental: light

Support Heroes:  
The Scientist – enhanced ability: data analysis  
Grimoire – magical artifact: the “magical tome”  


* * *

Radiance adjusted the longer skirt of her formal costume, waiting for Keyblade to arrive. Honestly she was looking for Corridor too, hoping he’d gotten a last-minute invitation after all. She hadn’t seen him all day, though he’d replied to her text asking if he was all right.

In his reply, he’d said it wasn’t a big deal that he wouldn’t be there; an event pulling all of the city’s Heroes into one place meant someone had to be out patrolling.

Despite his apparent nonchalance, Radiance doubted he thought it was a coincidence he’d drawn the short straw.

The ballroom set aside for private events had been decorated with all the finery one could hope for: a buffet table against one wall, a limited bar on the other side, and small tables set around the edges of the floor, leaving most of the space open for mingling. A stage with a podium on the far side of the room would be the focal point for whatever official announcements the Defenders of the Light were planning on making.

She tried to keep from fidgeting. The press wasn’t here yet, but she still had to plan on being watched all night. Even more so than usual.

“Aw, are they letting you stay up past your bedtime?”

Staying relaxed and pleasant was growing more challenging by the moment. “Hello, Nymph.”

The other heroine stepped closer, and Radiance felt the prickle of electricity grazing her skin. Not enough of it to qualify as an attack, or even overt unfriendliness, but it was still a _push_.

Radiance and Nymph had never been close, though that wasn’t much of a surprise. They could work together and be cordial, but it was hard to feel fondly toward someone you were constantly being compared to. They were the only two heroines on the active Defenders of the Light roster. Add to that the superficial similarity between their powers—Radiance’s light generation to Nymph’s lightning control—and the media did not shy away from holding them up against each other.

“I thought this was an adults-only event,” Nymph complained. Her smooth sculpted mask covered most of her face, and mesh behind the eyeholes obscured even more of her expression, but it still allowed for an exaggerated pout of her painted lips.

Radiance managed to stifle a sigh. She wasn’t in the mood for barbed banter. “Well, then let me know if you find one.”

The faux-pout turned into a real frown, but was wiped away quickly by a laugh. “I’ll be on the lookout. Your date has arrived.” Nymph gestured toward the other door to the ballroom, the one Radiance wasn’t facing, and then wandered toward another knot of Heroes already mingling.

Keyblade had entered the room, looking almost as uncomfortable as Radiance felt in the formal variant costume. His costume always had a vaguely “princely” theme to it: close-fitting pants and shirt under a jacket, with accents in bold, primary colors. His formal costume played it up even more, the jacket more clearly tailored, the accents more intricate.

Radiance waved and rushed to meet him.

“You look lovely.” He offered his hands, which she took.

She suppressed a flicker of sadness; usually he would have hugged her. But they had all agreed to be careful. “Oh, this? It was just the last clean thing I had left in the closet.”

Before Keyblade could reply, they were interrupted. “Well, if the prince and princess here aren’t just the cutest thing.” The phrase could have sounded mocking, but it was clearly only a gentle tease.

Radiance smiled and greeted one of the other Heroes she was genuinely happy to see. “Hey, Fire.”

Fire Dancer was one of the slightly older Heroes that seemed to actually like almost everyone, and that made him easy to like in return. Despite the fact that the age difference was fairly negligible now, many of the older Defenders of the Light, like Nymph, seemed to view the younger trio as juvenile upstarts. Frustrating, since they were all adults out there doing the same job.

Of course, Radiance had been a true child-Hero, coming to the organization at the same time as many of the others who manifested powers as pre-teens. Some of them had literally watched her grow up.

“Hey yourself,” Fire replied. “Saw that piece Channel 4 did on you last week, Radiance. Looking good out there. And Keyblade, nice job the way you and Corridor took out that group of jewelry thieves.” Glancing around he added, “Where _is_ your number three?”

“On patrol,” Keyblade said, though Radiance recognized the falseness of his conversational tone. “All of us gathered here? Can’t leave the city unprotected.”

“Bummer. He’s missing out on some truly _average_ alcohol at the open bar. You guys want a drink?” he toasted them with a mostly empty glass.

Radiance shrugged. “Sure.”

The room had already begun to fill with more small groups of local Heroes, split into the usual partnerships and friendships. There weren’t all that many, since the city itself only had fifteen official Heroes on its roster. The event wasn’t big enough to call in Heroes from other sister-organizations, and the retired Heroes certainly weren’t going to be invited.

Fire Dancer led the way straight toward the bar set up in the back corner. He definitely stood out in his bright flame-colors, the formal costume cut in more layers than his usual one, actually looking like flickering fire as he moved.

They weren’t the only ones who’d narrowed in on the bar, though there wasn’t much of a line by the time they reached it. Fire Dancer ordered drinks while Radiance looked around the room.

Nearest to them Gambler, his formal attire making him look ready for a stage show, was showing some sort of card trick to Nocturne. Nocturne laughed, the sound making drinks in people’s glasses move, until Stalwart punched him in the arm.

Farther out on the floor, Radiance could see Nymph laughing, probably at something Thorn had said. Grimoire and the Scientist stood nearby, though looking less amused.

Lunar Phase, blue hair standing out against the black, silver, and purple of his night-sky themed costume, stood alone, probably waiting for Fire Dancer. The two were friends.

Across the room, Trickshot and Lancer chatted.

Fire Dancer handed Keyblade and Radiance their drinks, cups of vibrantly pink punch, and toasted them with his refilled glass. It likely didn’t have much strong alcohol in it; an open supply of booze and the superpowered could end poorly, especially at a publicity event.

“Thank you,” Radiance said, and took a sip. It didn’t taste completely awful, though Fire Dancer’s judgment of ‘truly average’ was fair.

“Always. You guys have fun, I’m going to mingle.”

Keyblade and Radiance retreated to a safer distance from the bar.

“Did you notice the same thing I did?” he asked, sipping from his own drink.

She nodded.

“Is he really the only one who didn’t get an invitation?”

She smiled, but doubted it looked any more convincing to him that it felt to her. “Shows how much they trust him, right? To protect the city alone?”

Keyblade didn’t have a chance to reply as Xehanort stepped onto the stage.

“Thank you for being here tonight.” The microphone perfectly carried his voice through the room. “I appreciate seeing all of our city’s finest Heroes together. Reporters will be joining us shortly, and I hope you all have a chance to talk about the many excellent things you have accomplished. Later there will be a formal presentation about the Defenders of the Light as an organization, and our continuing research into superhuman abilities, as well as our ongoing mission.”

There were polite applause and a few glasses held up in acknowledgement.

Then the doors opened again, allowing the reporters in. Most were also dressed up for the event, though in suits and cocktail dresses rather than themed attire and decorated masks. Some were armed with recorders, others with tablets, and a few with old-fashioned pads of paper and pens. A few from mainstream publications were accompanied by professional camera operators, while most of the independent press made do with their phones.

Keyblade reached out and squeezed Radiance’s hand quickly before letting go. “Let’s go make an impression.”

-

The next hour and a half was spent speaking with so many different people Radiance despaired of remembering all of them. She’d given a few shorter clip-style interviews, but most of it was more informal, just friendly chats with bloggers and journalists. Some she recognized from previous interviews or other exchanges. She tried not to play favorites, but there were certainly people she thought did better work, and she spent just a little extra time with them.

She was under no illusions that this was _only_ pleasant conversation, even when it felt relaxed. She knew bits of seeming small talk and the answers to innocent questions regarding her opinions on things would be sprinkled throughout a dozen or more posts and articles the next day.

Radiance took at least twenty or thirty selfies with different people, sometimes alone, sometimes with other Heroes. Of course, since she could provide her own fill light, every selfie with her was perfectly flattering.

All told, it seemed to go well, everyone laughing and smiling and posing. It was likely to be as beneficial as the Defenders of the Light promised, giving everyone a fun (if fluffy) opportunity to get their names and current work out there.

And just as it was feeling like too much, Xehanort stepped onto the stage, and attention turned toward him.

“We appreciate your attendance tonight. I hope that everyone has had a chance to speak, and maybe make some new connections.”

A thin smattering of applause and a few raised glasses.

“Now, we also wished to take this opportunity to present some of the Defenders of the Light’s new research into the Superhero phenomenon. Ever since the first wave of powered individuals—including myself—appeared close to 30 years ago, we’ve struggled to understand _why_. While we have yet to uncover a single, definitive answer, possibly because there _is_ no singular cause, the Defenders of the Light have devoted the bulk of our research to studying this topic. We have uncovered some fascinating new information, which I will have our support Heroes, Grimoire and The Scientist, explain.”

The applause was louder this time, as he turned to present the two Heroes behind him. The reporters and bloggers in the crowd were certainly more focused now, many subtly shifting for better positions, adjusting recording equipment.

The Scientist already had a headset mic, and launched into a description of their research on Superhero physiology, the average age at which powers manifested, and the potential for genetic predispositions.

Radiance tried not to let herself zone out, but it was an uphill battle. She’d never particularly gotten along with The Scientist. Everything about him was unpleasantly sharp, from his icy eyes and his angular features to his general demeanor. Even his formal costume called to mind a particularly well-tailored lab coat, the silver-edged white mask managing to give the impression of goggles.

That led to the memory of Corridor joking to her that they could have made him creepier if they’d given him a surgical mask instead, since they were obviously trying to give kids nightmares, and Radiance had to stifle a giggle.

She managed to rein her attention back in by the time Grimoire took over, discussing some of the more esoteric aspects of the research. The book that gave him his codename was held at his hip, his formal variant attire giving even more of an impression than usual of a university student from a century or two in the past.

“—the most interesting of which is the speculation that there are notable divergent potential paths that some individuals could take. Not merely representing the difference between developing powers or no, but _which_ powers are developed.”

_That_ was interesting enough to draw her focus fully back. She’d heard some speculation on that, particularly in the rare cases of identical twins developing radically different powers than one another, or one twin developing powers and the other not. For obvious reasons, those were extremely difficult cases to study.

“Some individuals do seem to develop powers based on subconscious needs, in the dramatic cases of saving themselves from mortal danger with hitherto unknown abilities. But also with underlying _desires_ , such as my colleague”—he gestured back to The Scientist—“whose pursuit of knowledge eventually manifested in a genuinely superhuman talent for analysis, with the ability not merely to intuit, but physically perceive connections the rest of us do not. But the same person, placed in a different environment, could theoretically develop an entirely different ability, because their wants and needs have been altered.”

And now Xehanort stepped back forward, ready to tie it together into the soundbite everyone was waiting for. “The thing these brilliant minds have helped to discover is that there is a very real potential that any of our beloved Heroes had the potential to develop into very different versions of themselves. A different childhood, a different presentation of danger, new mixes of positive and negative experiences… all of it could lead to a drastically different person, and that extends to the potential powers they could exhibit as well.

“Add to this the existence of the alternate worlds and dimensions we already know exist, as shown by the Heartless Crisis of a few short years ago, and it implies some very interesting things.”

Now his voice changed, turning deep and somber. “It is not my wish to cause any sort of alarm. But I do believe that everyone should be as informed as possible. With that in mind, I do need to announce that we have detected another of these alternate worlds brushing at our own.”

A beat of silence, followed by absolute chaos as every reporter in the room rushed to get questions out.

Radiance shouldn’t have been surprised. They’d _known_ with those creatures they’d run into and been fighting. They’d known there was an Event, and that it had to be something big, something on par with the Heartless Crisis. And of course, Xehanort had been sure to mention _that_ , ensuring others would make the connection. But still, her spine had gone cold and prickly.

Keyblade stiffened next to her and grabbed wildly for her hand. They broke the contact quickly, but it at least gave her a moment to ground.

Xehanort allowed some of the noise to die down before continuing, and his voice still carried easily. “As I said, it is not our belief at the moment that there is cause for alarm. But citizens should always report any suspicious supernatural activity to the authorities, and the Defenders of the Light will protect them. We will monitor this potential alternate reality, and keep you all informed if there are any new developments.”

A glance around showed that most of the other Heroes, or at least the ones whose faces she could see, looked equally shocked. Except for The Scientist and Grimoire on the stage. Well, they were part of Xehanort’s immediate scientific team, so of course they’d known. But no one else seemed to. Or else they were putting on a very convincing show.

Xehanort was answering questions now, but they were mostly noncommittal answers. He was good at this kind of management; even Radiance felt like everything was sure to be all right as she listened to him.

Grimoire and The Scientist answered fewer questions from the reporters, but occasionally provided additional information when Xehanort directed a question to them.

Radiance was still far enough back from the stage that even in the relatively small space she had a hard time hearing most of the questions, but one of the women she’d spoken to several times over the course of the evening asked loudly enough to be heard: “If this alternate universe is just now brushing up against ours, is it a case of it getting closer somehow? Should we anticipate further contact by a specific date?”

The Scientist pulled a miniature tablet from a pocket of his not-a-labcoat, scrolling across the screen, when… _something_ happened.

Afterwards, Radiance still couldn’t put into words exactly what it was. It was vertigo far more intense than one of the dark corridors. Like something suddenly pulled her one way and the rest of the world in another, but she was standing still.

Keyblade took a heavy step forward, reaching out to keep his balance.

Elsewhere in the crowd, Nocturne stumbled, nearly falling until Stalwart caught him by the arm. Other Heroes stiffened or visibly braced themselves. Radiance wasn’t the only one to have felt it.

But then it was over. Nothing had moved or changed, Xehanort was still answering the reporter’s question, The Scientist holding out his tablet to show some chart Radiance couldn’t make out from the back of the room. None of the press seemed to have noticed anything strange, other than maybe that some of the Heroes had bumped into them.

Finally Xehanort cut off further questions with repeated promises to keep everyone informed. The lights came up, and some of the bigger, more physical Heroes like Stalwart and Lancer helped usher everyone toward the doors.

The wind-down of the event was far faster than the lead-up had been, and even the Heroes were dismissed with nothing more.

Radiance still felt unsettled, even with Keyblade accompanying her down the stairs at the front of the Headquarters building. She wanted to talk to him, to talk to Corridor about what this “Event” meant for them. At least they had confirmation now.

By the time Kairi finally got back to her official residence (slowly, by mundane taxi to a spot a couple blocks from her apartment, and then by foot, without Corridor there to open a portal) and fell into bed, she could hardly even think about it she was so tired. Formal events always drained her, though this felt excessive. But at least now that the Event had been announced, they could hope more information would follow soon. She and Sora would fill Riku in the next morning, and they’d make their private plans.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance, Keyblade, and Corridor get a little more information (and some new costumes) prior to the event.

* * *

_The following is from the cached version of a blog post by a blogger known as “SoundofLight”. The original has been deleted._

**The Script Theory: Part 1**

Continuing on my seemingly neverending posts trying to explain the fandom and history that surrounds our favorite Defenders of the Light team, I want to talk about one of the more controversial theories that is sometimes discussed. There are some subcategories to it, and some people say it verges way too far into true “conspiracy theory” rather than fact. But it comes up over and over, and if you spend enough time on forums and chat groups, you’ll probably encounter it.

This is broadly referred to as “The Script Theory.”

DISCLAIMER: I’m not saying whether I believe in this or not. I’m just trying to explain what it is, all right?

“The Script Theory” states that the Defenders of the Light (and other such organizations nationally and even globally) have much greater control over good vs. evil conflict than any of us know.

It’s relatively well known that the Defenders of the Light do control certain aspects of their Heroes’ public personae, and that they do so in part to increase revenue. 

And the Defenders of the Light don’t pretend there’s no interest in profit: There are the obvious PSAs the company produces, of course, and themed shows, and exhibition fights. There are the official compilation videos (featuring exclusive Defenders of the Light proprietary footage, naturally!) chronicling highlights for certain Heroes, locations, and time periods. Costume variants almost always come with waves of officially licensed merchandise.

Marketability guides many of the decisions made about the Heroes and what they do. It’s not a guarded secret that Heroes sign codes of conduct to keep themselves “family-friendly” and portray the organization as a whole in a positive light. After all, the Defenders of the Light invest time and training into the Heroes they employ, and they need to make sure those Heroes live up to the “brand” that they’ve established.

“The Script Theory” goes far beyond. It states that _everything_ is under the Defenders of the Light’s/other organization’s control. That the minutiae of rivalries and alliances and hinted romances are all orchestrated with a calculating eye toward fan reactions. In more extreme versions, it states that the Heroes and the Villains are often working from the same script (hence the name of the theory), and the wins and losses are all according to a grand plan.

It sounds completely far-fetched! But there _is_ a seed of plausibility. After all, the advent of superhuman abilities, and then the formation of teams of Heroes (replacing the earlier groups that were more often maligned as “Vigilantes”) created a type of semi-public figure never before seen. Superheroes and their larger-than-life abilities paired with often-humble origins became a blend of extreme celebrity, reality television subject, and social media star. At the same time, their devotion to protecting the world, and battles against equally outrageous supervillains made them essentially a real-live action franchise, with new installments coming out in real time.

And what company could look at that potential and not decide to capitalize on it to the most thorough degree possible?

* * *

Kairi had no opportunity to speak to Riku the following morning. She’d planned on going to see him, or at the very least calling him as soon as she woke up, but she slept through her alarms. She hadn’t done that in years. Honestly, she felt hungover, which seemed terribly unfair considering how little she’d had to drink.

Her official phone showed three missed calls from Headquarters, and she winced at the realization she could incur some sort of penalty for that. Hopefully they’d be forgiving. She could at least be thankful she hadn’t been scheduled to patrol.

There was one voicemail, a clipped message telling her she had a mandatory meeting, and she needed to report to Xehanort’s office at 1:00. And it was now… 12:36. _Crap_.

A meeting with Xehanort, mere days after he’d made it clear they were not currently in his good graces, was enough to worry about. Being late and at anything less than her best was not an option.

As she was rushing to find a clean costume—she’d foolishly fallen asleep in her formal costume, but couldn’t wear that even if it hadn’t been rumpled—her text alert sounded.

 _“Where are you??”_ Keyblade asked.

 _“Overslept”_ she texted back.

_“We’ll come get you, 5 min.”_

She sighed with relief, and kept rummaging for a presentable costume. She found one that at the very least didn’t have any tears or obvious stains. Headquarters did give them surprisingly resilient costumes. After that, she forced a brush through her hair, and rushed through applying the barest minimum of makeup that would still read as ‘presentable.’

One of the usually invisible skills being a Hero had taught Kairi was how to get ready in moments. She could change into costume at a speed stage actors would envy, and apply most of her makeup without more than a glance in a mirror.

Their timing was perfect as always, and one of Corridor’s dark doorways opened at the edge of her room just as she put on her domino mask, settling it into place with skin-safe adhesive.

Corridor and Keyblade both stepped through. Radiance grabbed her bag and rushed to meet them. She leaned up to kiss each of them on the cheek, and they stepped back into the dark.

-

With Corridor’s help, all three of them were on time for the requested meeting. Early, even: the door to Xehanort’s office was closed, murmuring voices on the other side of the door just barely audible.

Radiance was grateful for a chance to catch her breath before the meeting. She felt better than when she’d gotten up, but barely. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too obvious.

“Are you feeling alright?” Keyblade asked.

She winced. So much for that. “Just tired, I think. I completely slept through my alarms, and felt really _off_ when I finally woke up.” Turning to Corridor she added, “Thank you so much for picking me up; there’s no way I could have been here in time.”

“Any time. I hope you aren’t getting sick.” Corridor pulled off one of the fingerless gloves that were a part of his costume, and felt her forehead.

“No fever.” She flashed a smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing, and I’ll be just fine.”

Corridor went from feeling her forehead to quickly helping to touch up her makeup from her rush job, blending blush a bit more, making sure her eyeliner was straight behind the mask. “Keyblade said the same thing this morning, that he felt ‘off.’”

“Maybe we just had too much punch at the event last night,” Keyblade said, though Radiance knew that wasn’t it. “I’m sure it’ll pass.”

“Oh!” Radiance exclaimed. “The event! Corridor, did Keyblade fill you in? I was going to this morning, and then, well…”

Corridor gave her a crooked smile. “Yeah, he told me. Parallel dimension, ooh, scary. Though at least it explains the whatever-creatures.”

“I wonder—” Keyblade started, but then the door to the office opened, and Nymph, Thorn, and Stalwart stepped out.

The floral scent that always accompanied Thorn was briefly overpowering, but the three older Heroes walked past with barely a glance at the three who were waiting. Stalwart offered a brief nod, typical enough for him, but the other two didn’t even acknowledge them. Also typical, Radiance supposed.

“Come in, please, all three of you,” Xehanort called from inside the room. “And close the door behind you.”

This was not the conference room he’d met them in just a couple days before; this was his private office, as spacious and well-appointed as befitted the head of the Defenders of the Light. Radiance had been there before, though not any time recently.

Xehanort gestured for the three to sit down in chairs pulled up in front of his desk.

“While all of you may receive additional information as needed, this preliminary meeting is to update you on everything we know about the current situation. I assume Corridor has been brought up to speed after missing the announcement last night?”

She noticed the subtle emphasis on ‘missing,’ as if it had been his choice, but she couldn’t say anything. Corridor nodded tightly, and Xehanort continued with almost no pause.

“As stated, we’ve detected an alternate universe converging on our own. This is the source of the monsters you and other Heroes have encountered lately. Our researchers have taken to calling the creatures _Nobodies_ , since they, well, leave no bodies. While we have done our best to quell any concerns among the public, there is a genuine threat that the Defenders of the Light must be prepared for.”

Keyblade nodded earnestly, and Radiance caught herself leaning forward as well.

Xehanort handed each of them a sealed manila envelope. “These are hard copies of our current information about these creatures and the dimension they originated from. Feel free to examine it at your leisure; we always support additional analysis that could prove revealing. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that there will be severe penalties if the information you’ve been given is shared.”

All three nodded.

“The largest concern at the moment is that we anticipate there are stronger, more dangerous creatures in this dimension as well.”

“Sentient?” Corridor asked.

That was the real question, wasn’t it? Because the Heartless came in plenty of varieties, and most of them could be dangerous under the wrong circumstances. But they generally weren’t fully _sentient._ They were driven by instinct, and had the intelligence necessary to fight, hunt, and protect themselves, but no more. But when they’d taken on human forms, and retained that human ability to think, to _plan_ … that was when they became truly dangerous. They’d almost lost Corridor to it. Hell, the scar over Keyblade’s heart showed they’d nearly lost him, too.

Xehanort nodded. “Quite possibly. I understand how this may be of additional… interest to you, Radiance.”

Her heart leaped in her chest. Of course there’d be speculation, with her being classed nominally as a ‘dimensional’ Hero. They’d never found out where she’d come from.

Xehanort’s voice took on the calming, almost paternal tone that he’d used the night before to calm the journalists as he said, “There’s no reason to suspect any direct connection. But contact of this magnitude with an alternate dimension is quite obviously rare. We may assign you to a few additional therapy sessions, just in case the proximity of this new universe helps prompt recollection of your own.”

Radiance nodded. Extra sessions she could deal with.

Keyblade glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He always knew when something made her uncomfortable. He switched the topic. “Have there been encounters yet?”

“Not yet, but considering the rate of increase we’ve seen for these ‘Nobodies,’ we anticipate that contact could happen soon.” Xehanort glanced between the three of them. When none of them broke in with further questions, he smiled, like he was announcing a new holiday.

“Now, since this seems set to become one of the most significant events we’ve faced, all three of you will be fit for new costumes. We want the public to be assured that the Defenders of the Light are ready to take on this new threat. It’s quite possibly the start of a new era in what our Heroes are called to do, and our readiness should be obvious from the first glance.

“Keyblade, Radiance. The two of you are dismissed. Please report to costuming for final tailoring. Then report to the arena for a training session. This is an opportunity to show how seriously we are taking this, as well as to get used to your new costumes; there should be reporters on site. Corridor, stay here a moment. I have something additional to discuss with you before you join them.”

Their dismissal was firm enough that Radiance and Keyblade couldn’t even try to loiter outside the office to wait for Corridor. They settled for walking toward the costuming department as slowly as possible while not being obvious about it. Radiance was fairly sure they were thinking the same thing, even though they couldn’t risk saying it. But for her at least, she was suddenly very worried that Corridor was getting confirmation of the thing he’d been most afraid of. That somehow he was going to be scripted to betray them.

“Maybe Xehanort is just making sure he’s caught up on everything from last night?” Keyblade stretched, the casual gesture exaggerated.

“Yeah, maybe.” She nodded, wishing she believed it. She’d been the one saying they needed to give the Defenders of the Light the benefit of the doubt, right? Or at least that it was overreacting to assume the worst.

Anxiety wasn’t going to help. Corridor would let them know, and as they’d already decided, they’d deal with whatever happened however they had to.

-

Radiance hadn’t visited costuming for a good six months before her middle-of-the-night remeasure, so being back so soon felt strange. At the very least, they’d been right about why that appointment had been requested so suddenly. She and Keyblade were hustled into different rooms again.

The same woman as before ushered her behind a dressing screen and handed her the new costume. “They keep you on hours as unpredictable as ours, don’t they?” Radiance asked as she changed. It seemed terribly awkward to stay silent.

“Have to be awake when the Heroes are,” the woman replied.

Radiance took a quick look in the full-length mirror behind the screen. The new costume was similar to her old one, following the same tried-and-true superhero standards. It had to be tight but not restrictive, allowing the best range of motion while still being flattering. 

There was a faux-corset at the top, but the reinforced panels were more for protection than shape, meant to be skin-tight, but not any tighter. Draped fabric at the hips gave the illusion of a mid-thigh-length skirt and more feminine cut, without risking tangling her legs. It also concealed small pockets in the tight-fitting leggings.

The color scheme was the same, white at the top, with the ‘skirt’ fading through the gold-pink-purple shades of a sunset. The accents were sparkling gold. Her mask was still white with gold edging, but now one side had gold spikes fanning out like a sunburst. The low-heeled calf-high boots were also white with gold trim.

She liked it, which was good.

The costumer had done a good job when it came to measuring it the first time, because there was very little to alter.

“Do I get a weapon this time?” she asked, flashing a bright smile.

The woman gave her a flat look in the mirror.

“Worth a try,” Radiance said.

Once she’d finished, Radiance thanked the woman, then waited in the hall for Keyblade. He joined her before too long.

The new version of his costume played up the ‘fantasy knight’ aspect of his persona. Dark grays and blacks were more prominent this time, and combined with the reinforced panels (not made to look like a corset for him) and side buckles, it looked almost like armor. Deliberate accents of color drew the eye along specific lines, strengthening the impression. A short-sleeved half-jacket edged in red and gold provided a splash of the vivid primary colors usually associated with Keyblade. He also had arm and shin guards that matched the jacket.

She flashed him a quick thumbs up and a grin, and he returned the gesture. There was no way to tell if Corridor had been whisked away into his own costuming room yet or not, and they still couldn’t loiter, since they’d been given somewhere else to be.

Most of the time, the Heroes were allowed to train alone, in whatever manner they preferred. There was an understanding that every Hero _had_ a training regimen—the job was too physically demanding and image-based for them not to—but the organization saw no need to dictate specifics.

However, the Headquarters building did include both an arena and a fully equipped gym for any of the Heroes to use. The arena itself could be customized to any number of specifications: obstacle courses, team-ups, exhibition fights, superpowered sporting competitions, and more. Even Heroes who mostly chose to do their training elsewhere were “encouraged” to at least periodically make appearances at the official facilities. The fact that it was one of the few areas easily accessible to the press may or may not have been incidental.

“What do you think they want us to do?” Keyblade asked, voice low enough there was a chance ambient microphones might fail to pick it up.

“Probably just general training.” Radiance shrugged. “Let everyone see our new costumes, let us each do some flashy moves, the usual.”

They had been told to report to the _arena_ rather than the gym, which made sense if it was going to be for the benefit of the media. Both were accessible, but the arena had viewing windows placed high along the walls, rather than the ground-level sidelines of the gym.

Keyblade opened the door to what was jokingly called “the green room” and gave an exaggerated half-bow to let Radiance go ahead of him.

The green room didn’t offer much beyond a place for Heroes to compose themselves. There were a couple small lockers, which they used now for the folders they’d received at the meeting. But the space wasn’t designed to serve as a dressing room or the like—any Hero in the Headquarters building would already be in costume. It was a last chance to take a breath and get ready before being on public view.

Radiance took advantage of it by running through her usual routine of stretches and warm-ups. They could be made acrobatic and showy enough for the media to see, but if anyone was already there to see them? Best not to keep them waiting once the Heroes arrived.

Keyblade ran through his own quick warm up, summoning and dismissing his weapon from various positions. Neither of them quite broke a sweat—deliberate, of course, as that would be no way to debut their new looks—but they synced their preparations to each other, and faced the door together, ready to go.

It was like the path from the locker room to the field at a sports stadium, a smooth-walled tunnel letting them into public view. With nothing more than “training exercise” to go on, Radiance wasn’t certain what to expect. Obstacle course? That could be good, giving them a chance to feel any differences in their new costumes. Sparring? Less likely, since it didn’t test well when it wasn’t planned in advance. (For how popular ‘who would win in a fight’ discussions were on fansites, no one was satisfied with the results of sparring matches. It always led to excuses about how it would be different if they could go truly all-out.)

Radiance heard the metallic noise of the Keyblade reappearing, and they stepped into the brightness of the arena. She tried to assess everything at once as her eyes adjusted. No other Heroes currently in the arena, and just the usual assortment of blocks and ramps providing varied ‘terrain’ and cover.

The hit came from the side, before she’d even seen the creature, slamming into her shoulder with potentially bone-breaking force. She stifled a cry as she turned the hit into a roll instead of a fall, absorbing and redirecting as much of the energy as she could.

It was one of the white monsters, and the damn thing must have been just _waiting_ by the entrance for them. Radiance gave herself just enough of an extra push to land back on her feet, darting a quick glance toward Keyblade, before she was dodging another strike from the ambushing creature. What had Xehanort said they were called? _Nobodies_.

The Nobody’s deceptively gentle, fluid motion still felt strange to guard and defend against, but she’d just been reminded how hard they could hit.

 _Running away, yes. What a wonderful introduction to your new role on the hyper-competent team._ The thought was bitter enough she could taste it. 

She’d been all in favor of giving their employers the benefit of the doubt. But there was no way that—yes, she confirmed with a quick glance— _three_ of these things had just mysteriously appeared inside Headquarters. If this _had_ been a surprise incursion, the whole facility would be in lockdown, steel shutters blocking off every window and door except for the emergency exit through the basement.

No, this had been _planned_ , and the fact that they were sent in here with no warning or chance to prepare had been part of that plan.

Her adrenaline surged along with her frustration. Of course they could handle the Nobodies, they’d been fighting them on patrol all week. That didn’t change the fact that they deserved some kind of warning, especially if this was for an audience.

Radiance sent a shower of bright sparks one way as she dodged the other, ducking around one of the obstacle blocks. Her light didn’t hurt the Nobodies, at least not that she could tell, but she could still use it as a decoy. Despite a lack of visible eyes, the creature did hesitate, drifting a little in midair back and forth, like it had to decide which way to go.

Radiance pressed her back against the padded block, and spared a moment of attention to find Keyblade. He had two of the things focused on him, but was holding his own. At least his weapon _worked_ on them. Radiance looked back to her immediate opponent. It was still drifting in a holding pattern.

If her powers couldn’t harm it, physical altercation it was. Not for the first time, she wished Marketing had decided using a knife would be an appropriate addition to her skillset. _Apparently_ that had come across as “too aggressive” to test audiences. She hadn’t expected costuming to give her one when she’d asked, it wasn’t really their call, but she also hadn’t really been joking.

Radiance waited for the best opening she could, breaking cover to get behind the Nobody, if there really was a front or a back to the creatures. She turned the forward rush into a tumbling pass, a move that _did_ test well, and also made her a smaller, less predictable target.

On her second forward roll, the new radiating spikes on her mask very nearly caught on the ground. _That_ would have to be adjusted for, if she didn’t want a neck injury or to lose the mask. People were willing—mostly—to allow the mask to provide the polite fiction that her identity was a true secret. Losing it mid-fight would remove even that shred of pretending.

At least the move had paid off, and she’d made it behind the thing without it immediately attacking. That wouldn’t last long, but the chance to land a hit or two was better than nothing. She closed the remaining distance between her and the Nobody and delivered a punch followed by a kick, gratifyingly knocking it back a couple feet while she darted away again.

Without her powers being effective, and without a physical weapon, this would take forever. Her best bet was probably just distracting it until Keyblade had a free moment to finish it off. _Not_ her favorite look, especially in a surprise exhibition fight where she was supposed to be at her best. But sometimes it couldn’t be helped. Knowing when to rely on a teammate was a skill as well.

She ducked behind another block of their ‘terrain,’ trying to break line of sight for her opponent. Looking over at Keyblade, almost at the other end of the arena, she saw he was still engaged with both of his Nobodies, though at least one looked injured, hitching a little in its motions. She’d have to keep hers busy for a while longer.

She was about to jump back out, to try and get a couple more strikes in, when she was hit by a familiar vertigo-drop in her stomach. It was familiar enough not to send her to her knees, and as soon as the wave passed, she looked near-frantically for the source.

And there was Corridor, dramatic entrance as easily performed as ever. He’d been given his own costume upgrade, still all-black and well-fitted, calling to mind the attire of a fantasy cat burglar or outlaw. He had close-cut black pants and shirt, with a tight jacket that flared slightly at the waist, all out of monochrome black fabric so matte it seemed to absorb the light. Fingerless gloves, heavy boots, and a plain black mask completed the costume. 

Corridor immediately lashed out with his long knife, cutting down the injured Nobody and evening their playing field.

Except as soon as the weakened Nobody went down, disappearing into wisps of nothing, a Shadow Heartless bubbled up from the shade of one of the obstacles.

“Welcome to the show!” Radiance chirped, darting back into view and running closer. “I’ll trade you!”

“Any time,” Corridor answered with a feral grin, waving his hand in a gesture they used to signal agreement.

Radiance ran past him for the Heartless, while Corridor drew his knife and closed with the Nobody that had been pursuing her.

A snap of her fingers and a sharp gesture sent orbs of light spiraling out and then back inward around the Heartless. The light burned away at the Shadow, withering it to nothing by the time the lights converged at their midpoint.

Keyblade had taken care of his remaining Nobody, and this one wasn’t replaced with anything new. Corridor slashed at the one that had been after Radiance, and Keyblade threw his weapon at it in a flashy move that delivered the final blow.

Radiance stood at the ready, in case anything new intended to join the battle, but nothing did. The three Heroes relaxed their stances at the same moment, prompting applause from the viewing gallery. That confirmed the fight was over; during action of any kind, no sound was transmitted from that room to the arena. 

But of course their performance had been for an audience, and now it was time to be interviewed about it. She pushed her frustration away, ready to portray total confidence to the waiting media. It was possible that was going to be the greater challenge.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi, Riku, and Sora spend a day together, trying to enjoy the calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a brief (though not graphic) description of a blood draw in this chapter.

* * *

_The following article appears on the private fanpage “SuperFocus” dedicated to the history of various Superhero organizations._

**The Origin of the Defenders of the Light**

The Defenders of the Light can trace its history back farther than superheroes being an expected part of daily life, though it started as an organization officially maligned as a vigilante group. Certainly a sharp contrast to its current place in the public consciousness as near-synonymous with heroism.

The original members weren’t superhuman, just men and women who devoted themselves to protecting their city and its citizens, even when that put them into conflict with local police and government. Looking back on their history, and on the corruption they helped to expose, it seems much clearer now that they _were_ heroes, if more mundane ones than we’re used to now.

There’s no true agreement on who the first superhuman was. There have been people with extraordinary abilities and skills for centuries, and an even more extensive tradition throughout human history of quasi-mythical figures that could arguably qualify. 

But there is no denying that there was a drastic increase in their prevalence around 15 years ago.

It’s been speculated (though this is merely one theory of many) that the catalyst for that spike was close to an additional 15 years prior, when our universe came into contact with another. As superpowers often manifest near puberty, this date of contact would be relatively close to birth or very early childhood for many of those who would ultimately manifest abilities.

(If dimensional interactions are truly a catalyst for powers to manifest, it is worth noting there was another such event a few years before the spike. This was when the child-hero Starchild appeared in our world, which is also theorized to have been a potential trigger.) 

At the time of the first known dimensional event 30 years ago, there was little serious study into alternate realities, so the dimensional brush-up itself passed with little fanfare. But afterwards, individuals began to come forward with claims that they had come from another world entirely.

Many of these individuals were studied, some grew to prominence, and others faded into obscurity. But one young boy, Xehanort, began his own inquiries into his origins. He joined the Defenders of the Light as a child, taken under the wing of their then-leader Ansem. He grew up in the organization, and gradually worked his way to a position of leadership, taking over entirely after Ansem passed away.

In the first year following his ascension, when superpowers began to manifest with frequency that could not be ignored, he welcomed many from the region into the Defenders of the Light. As the original heroes that had founded the organization retired, superpowered heroes began to outnumber the remaining “mundane” heroes, until eventually powers became a de facto requirement for becoming a Hero.

As one retired hero famously said: “Heroism is a superhuman’s game.”

Now, most people view this as an ultimately positive move. The Defenders of the Light has grown within the city it calls home, and similar organizations have taken hold in other regions. These organizations offer a place that newly-manifested superhumans can turn to for help with their powers, and offer a career path that utilizes their genuinely unique skills. It’s contributed to a greater sense of public safety, even as similarly superpowered threats have emerged. The organization’s research department has also grown vastly, and leads efforts to understand what causes powers to manifest, as well as how they can be used, trained, and controlled.

While some people remain skeptical regarding the Defenders of the Light’s stated goals, none can argue that under Xehanort’s control, it has certainly grown to suit a changing world.

* * *

After another, more forceful, “suggestion” from Headquarters, Radiance was exempt from an extra day of patrol in return for reporting for a full medical checkup.

They’d told her she was overdue, and then Xehanort’s pointed suggestion during their debrief had made it clear that it was a priority, so it wasn’t a complete surprise. She took advantage of their offer by scheduling the appointment for as early as they would let her, leaving her the most free time possible afterwards: Corridor and Keyblade were also not on the patrol schedule for the day.

In addition to their role in protecting the city and its inhabitants from dangers both extraordinary and mundane, the Defenders of the Light’s goal as an organization was to understand what caused superpowers. In service to that aim, all Heroes were required to submit to periodic physical and psychological testing.

At least this particular visit wasn’t going to involve brain activity scans. Those were tedious and often took all day.

Radiance averted her eyes as the nurse inserted the blood draw needle. Radiance wasn’t squeamish exactly, but somehow it was far easier to deal with a genuine _injury_ drawing blood than something deliberate.

“One down, two to go,” the nurse said gently, replacing the vial.

After taking the third vial, the nurse covered the puncture with a cotton ball and taped it down, taking the blood samples and promising to return shortly.

Radiance flexed her arm, trying to chase away residual tension. She leaned back on the exam table, which had been left fairly upright for her. It was lucky she didn’t have a phobia around this kind of medical testing, or she’d have been chased from Heroism to villainy long ago.

She didn’t have to wait long. The woman who returned to the small exam room wasn’t the same nurse; this was one of the Defenders of the Light’s staff therapists. Radiance had seen her a couple of times before, though she’d seen others before and since.

“Hello Radiance, how have you been doing?”

“I’m doing well.” The easiest, safest answer.

The therapists were ostensibly provided to address the mental health of the Heroes. A valid enough concern, considering the relatively unique stress they were under. 

But like so many other things, that did not mean they shouldn’t be careful. Heroes who had expressed struggles balancing their Hero and civilian lives, or especially any sort of dissatisfaction with the organization itself, could find themselves being given all kinds of ‘extra help.’ And Radiance really wanted to be as under the metaphorical radar as possible right now.

“Have you been sleeping well?”

“Yes.”

“Any issues with your civilian identity? Struggles with family, or responsibilities?”

“None.” Her parents were aware of what she did. They’d known when they adopted her.

“And what about your social life with other Heroes? Any developments there?”

Radiance bristled at the question, and struggled not to show it. Riku’s paranoia was rubbing off on her. “The same as ever.” She smiled brightly. “Friendships all going strong.”

“Glad to hear it. A strong social support system is important. Have you done any new work on your memory?”

And there was the real question they were interested in answering.

All superpowered individuals did not obtain their powers the same way. Some developed gradually through a person’s life, frequently manifesting around puberty. Some went through some kind of major life stressor or life-threatening event that triggered something within them. Some encountered an external force that bestowed a power upon them. Corridor was the first type, with powers that manifested in his early teens. Keyblade was the third, “chosen” by a supernatural weapon only he could wield.

Radiance didn’t fall comfortably into any of the categories. She’d appeared in the city on the night of a meteor shower, roughly six years old, alone and with no memory of her life before then. Her light-generation powers had already manifested, a rarity on its own for a young child, but even more strangely had been under fairly consistent control.

There’d been plenty of theories about her: that she’d been abandoned by a fearful parent, that she was secretly the lovechild of some ex-Heroes, or even that she was an alien crashed to earth on one of the meteors. 

The Defenders of the Light had taken her in, given her the codename “Starchild,” and eventually placed her with her adoptive parents.

But they’d _always_ wanted to know where she’d come from, and what kind of training she’d had before she’d come here. They’d been trying to get her to “recover” her “suppressed childhood memories” for more than fifteen years. Their interest in her case was probably second only to their interest in superpowered twins, which was something notoriously difficult to study.

Radiance glanced away and shook her head before her silence dragged on too long. “Not really. I’ve been dream-journaling the way you suggested, but there aren’t really any themes I can see. I’ve tried to think back, but I don’t want to force something, or convince myself that I remember something I really just made up.”

Honestly, she hadn’t been trying, not recently. When she was younger, she’d desperately wanted to know where she’d come from. But now she had a life, and a future she wanted. She _enjoyed_ being a Hero, even if she hated marketing and scripted plotlines. Struggling to remember a childhood she was literally farther away from by the day seemed unnecessary at best.

The woman took some notes on her tablet. “Well, continue with the journaling, or even recording any weird thoughts you may have. You could think about moments you do remember from childhood, and see if there were imaginative themes that frequently appeared. Imaginary friends, or games you liked to play. Perhaps that could trigger a memory.”

“I’ll try that, thanks.” Radiance smiled, trying to appear more interested than anxious to leave.

“Considering the recent events, with the convergence of a parallel dimension, it is possible that you’ll experience unforeseen effects. We simply don’t know enough to predict it. I’d like you to come in weekly for a while, just so we can monitor any impact this is having on you.”

“All right. I’ll make an appointment.”

The woman keyed in a few additional things and stood to leave. Almost as an afterthought she added, “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

Radiance shook her head. “No. Thank you.”

“Someone else will be with you shortly.”

Radiance didn’t have any direct comparison, having only ever seen Defenders of the Light professionals, but she knew enough about therapy to know this was atypical. A cold, clinical setting, seeing a rotating cast of therapists, the questions all coming from the professional, never directed by the “patient.”

This time it was the first nurse who returned, giving Radiance a printed summary of what had been done during the appointment, and a card with a followup date already set for the following week.

And after that, she was finally free.

-

Kairi leaned back in the chair, sipping her smoothie and enjoying the sun. After the morning appointment, the rest of the day off from patrolling (barring emergency) was not to be wasted, especially when all three could spend it together.

Usually, the three would spend any mutual time off in their apartment, content to retreat from everything else when they had the opportunity. But today was a beautiful day, and they were all reluctant to spend it inside, so they were having lunch in the outdoor café area of the community college where Sora was a very-part-time student.

They were all dressed in what Kairi sometimes thought of as their “real” disguises, as civilians. Easiest for her; apply some softer makeup, add some body glitter to hide any errant sparks of light, accessorize with some oversized sunglasses, and she was suddenly much more likely to be recognized as ‘Kairi, the mayor’s daughter’ rather than ‘Radiance, local Superheroine.’ Though even that was blessedly infrequent; local politician’s daughter wasn’t terribly glamorous.

Riku had to go to slightly more effort, due to his fairly distinctive hair, but he hadn’t been caught yet. As a Hero, his hair was always down, and his costumes always played up the dark, almost-vampiric bad-boy look. So tying his hair into a ponytail and wearing light colors was _startlingly_ effective disguise. Add in a pair of purely aesthetic glasses, and the cliché hero/civilian disguise was complete.

Sora managed disguise-by-way-of-unremarkability, dressing like a typical college student and just blending in. Even though he had the most to lose, if his identity were to be exposed, since his was the only one that was _truly_ secret. From everyone. 

Of course, even their time off was never really free of Defenders of the Light business. Riku’s melancholy picking at the bread of his sandwich was proof enough of that.

Obviously Sora had picked up on it, too. “You know, this is really setting you up to be like, the _main_ Hero. A big dramatic switch back to our side at just the right time, seriously heroic save-the-day stuff, y’know?”

Kairi nodded her agreement. “You’ll step in with just the right information to let us defeat the bad guys, and that’ll be that.”

Riku gave as expressive a shrug as possible while slouching the way he was. “Hope so.”

Because of course, Riku had informed them after the exhibition fight, his extra debrief had been about how this event would require him to play double agent. He was going to be set up to betray the other Heroes and join up with the new villains. He would gather information about them, and ultimately come back to the Defenders of the Light. Though, he said, it was implied that his return to heroism was… _negotiable_ , based on his willingness to toe the line.

Otherwise, it had been nearly as light on details as the rest of the debrief had been, with no more specifics as to who these villains would be. Though the fact he was being prepped to go undercover with them as a spy implied that the Defenders of the Light were more certain than they let on that these villains were going to be fully sentient beings. Regardless, Riku was informed it would be happening, and of course he was absolutely forbidden from telling anyone.

Riku grabbed Sora’s soda and took a sip. “I don’t know how to play it strongly enough that people aren’t going to question my motives. How many times can I credibly switch sides before no one believes it when I switch back?”

Kairi’s gaze swept the café area, but no one was paying any attention to them. The beauty of chatting on campus; college kids were quirky enough as a whole that a conversation like this was beneath notice.

“Last time it was ‘because’ the big bad lied to you,” Sora said, sarcastic twist to the explanation making it clear they were really discussing the way the previous Event had been planned. “And this time, you’re joining up with the bad guys because you think it’s the only way to protect the rest of us. So this is really just like, an extension of the ‘noble motive, wrong method’ track. It shows great consistency of character. I bet I could even write a paper about it.”

At least that got a smile out of Riku. “Well, anything to help you pass a class, Sora.”

“No extra clues about the how and the when?” Kairi asked. “Even unintentional hints?”

Riku shook his head. “Xe— _The boss_ just said my plotline would have to ‘branch off.’ That the stakes would need to be increased, so I’d have to switch sides and join the other side, with ambiguity as to my motives. He did say something about it helping to ‘create both tension for the team and sympathy for the other side.’ A ‘hook,’ he called it.”

Kairi took another sip of her smoothie, turning the information over in her brain. The Scientist’s powerset would be useful at the moment, though for obvious reasons they couldn’t ask him. “So… if they need a ‘hook’ for the villains, then this has to be a totally new group, right? Not another crossover, because everyone already _knows_ the motives for The Bad Fairy and Sea Witch and Boogeyman, you know? Not that everyone thinks they’re _sympathetic_ exactly, but there’d be no need for a hook to get people invested.”

“Makes sense,” Riku said. “Though I wish I knew _when_ it was supposed to happen. Not a fan of it all hovering over my head like this.”

Sora shrugged. “So let’s not worry. I think by now we’ve picked apart what we know, and nothing is going to give us more info yet. Worrying isn’t helping, so let’s not.”

Kairi reached out to poke Sora in the side. “Sora’s answer to everything,” she teased as he squirmed away.

“Just to this!” he protested. “It’s a day off, and we _never_ get to just be normal friends or go on a real date or anything, and I don’t think we should spend it all being miserable over something we can’t fix yet.”

With visible effort, Riku seemed to literally shake off his melancholy. “You’re right. So if this is just a regular, real-normal-person-date, then where to?”

-

‘Where’ was a park on the far side of campus, where they could walk and toss bits of French fry to the pigeons. Sora found a four-leaf clover that he pressed between pages of a notebook. Kairi hoped that was a good sign for everything ahead of them. They managed to avoid ‘work talk’ the rest of the afternoon, though the time passed all too quickly.

Campus began to clear out, only the relatively few students with evening classes still moving through the grounds. They’d been content to wander fairly aimlessly back and forth, hand in hand in hand.

“What now?” Kairi asked as the streetlights came on, even though it was almost a given.

Sora glanced slightly wistfully toward the north, the direction his own apartment was in. “I wish I could invite you guys back to my place, but…” he trailed off.

Sora was in a unique position among the Heroes, because his civilian identity was secret even from the Defenders of the Light. Kairi’s identity had been known since she even _had_ an identity, and Riku had come to the Defenders of the Light for training as soon as his powers manifested. But the Keyblade had chosen Sora, and he had _volunteered_ to be a Hero, but the Defenders of the Light had no part in ‘discovering’ him or developing his powers. And due to previous hard-won, messy litigation, they could not require a Hero to reveal their civilian identity.

It was almost too risky for Kairi and Riku to spend time out of costume with Sora at all. None of them were under any illusion that the Defenders of the Light couldn’t discover Sora’s identity with distressing ease. Between their surveillance systems and the tracking they all knew was in place (even if it was officially only allowed when Heroes were on duty), it would take minutes to find Sora and connect him to Keyblade.

_But_ there were also extremely harsh penalties if the organization was ever found to have done so, including forfeiture of all past, present, and future licensing and merchandizing revenue for the Hero in question. And Keyblade was a very profitable Hero. Even so, spending time together in his private residence seemed like tempting fate to an excessive degree.

The three wandered to an area off the pathway, hidden from view by trees.

“So, the usual?” Riku asked, extending his hands as if asking for a dance.

The other two nodded, each taking one of his hands as he pulled all three of them into the dark.

-

The apartment was always their safest place, and they’d all done their best to keep it that way, never letting it turn into a cage. So Kairi was able to genuinely sigh with relief when they crossed the threshold of the dark corridor into what felt like home. It was the place she could drop the vague tension she carried through the day, no longer worried about the wrong person seeing them, or someone coming to the _right_ conclusion about their identities.

Kairi stretched, raising herself up on her tiptoes as the rest of the tension fled. “This was a good day.” She turned back to face the other two. “I’m glad we got to spend it together.”

“We have to take every chance we can get,” Riku said.

“Come on, Riku. Don’t get all sad on us,” Sora protested, aiming an elbow at Riku’s ribs. “ _Good day,_ remember?”

“Yes, your brooding is very hot and all, but now isn’t the time.” Kairi aimed for stern, but a giggle escaped anyway.

Riku rolled his eyes and elbowed Sora back. “I’m not brooding. I’m just stating it as a fact: _I’m sure_ you’re right, and everything is going to be fine, but there still might be a stretch of time we can’t be together.”

Kairi’s smile faded. He was right; if he was going to switch sides, he’d be under even more scrutiny than they already were, with none of the guaranteed protections they had when officially sanctioned by the Defenders of the Light. Sneaking away even for an evening to hide out in secret together might carry too much risk.

Riku reached over and tugged a bit of her hair. “Hey, if I can’t be sad, you can’t be either, right?”

She quirked a smile at him. “Just thinking how Sora and I will have to sit here and pine for our mysterious spy boyfriend.”

“Well, the spy will be tragically pining for the lovers he left behind and secretly yearns to return to, all right?” He rolled his eyes.

Sora snickered behind them. “I bet the fan communities will get some mileage out of that one.” Then he schooled his expression to one of deep thought. “Though you know, I do think it’s sort of a shame they didn’t go with the idea we had before, and make Kairi switch sides this time. Because I think Radiance could be a pretty great villain.”

“Oh _really_?” Kairi crossed her arms and fixed him with a _look_.

Sora nodded enthusiastically. “See, it already sounds like you’re planning revenge!”

“And maybe I am.”

“Or maybe Sora just has a type,” Riku suggested, pretending to examine his nails.

“Uh, wait…”

“Oh, don’t try to backpedal now, just because we’re on to you,” Riku teased.

“Yeah Sora. Bad-boy boyfriend just not enough? Need a bad girl, too?” She took a predatory step forward. Just because that wasn’t _really_ her style… they were all damn good actors after working for the Defenders of the Light for this long. “And you never just asked?”

“Uh…” Sora’s cheeks were pink. He was so easy to fluster. He backed up a step without seeming to realize he was doing it, hands coming up like he was trying to talk down a lion. “I mean…”

Riku and Kairi shared a quick glance, and she thought he understood _exactly_ what she was hoping he’d do. “Villains do gang up on Heroes all the time,” he said.

“They do.” She licked her lips and took another stride toward Sora, who took another nervous, giggly step back… right through the dark corridor that Riku opened up.

And backwards onto the bed.

Riku using his powers for such a short jaunt was rarely worth it—costing more energy than just walking—but the look on Sora’s face as he was gently shoved backward _definitely_ made this a worthwhile exception.

Kairi’s attempted ‘villainess’ persona fell apart as fast as she’d tried it out, as she couldn’t help but lean down and kiss Sora while he was still flushed and scrambling for what to say.

He seemed slightly relieved when she dropped the act, though it gave her some ideas for a future date. Maybe someday, when it felt like they had all the time in the world, when it seemed like it wouldn’t be a waste to turn their time together into a game. But they all spent so much time playing roles already… it was hard to give up one of the few chances they had to be nothing more or less than _themselves._

After that, she tried to snapshot pieces in her mind, thoughts she could recall if this _did_ drag them apart for some length of time, like some inoculation against loneliness.

She wanted to remember the arch of Sora’s spine when Riku ran his hands down past the small of his back, easing his jeans down. The breathless gasp Riku let out when she and Sora both went for his neck. The feel of Riku’s fingernails sweeping up her back, and the gold sparks it sent flickering off her skin.

The fall of Riku’s hair shielding his face as Sora pressed him face down into the mattress, and the dazed expression she revealed when she brushed it back, her fingers trailing a streak of violet light. Sora pulling her back against him, Riku in front of her, surrounded and sheltered completely as she came apart. The way Sora would get quiet as he got more desperate, until Riku kissing him gently and her fingers barely touching him pushed him over the edge.

The slow touches and kisses bringing them all back down.

-

It was after, in the hazy warm afterglow—something that was uncommonly literal for Kairi—that Riku spoke again.

He was in the middle, Kairi resting her head on his shoulder, Sora holding Riku’s other arm between both his own, their legs all tangled together.

Riku’s arm was pinned under her head, but he still ran his fingers through the part of her hair he could reach. “I’ll make sure you know,” he said. “When it’s time.”

And of course Kairi knew what he meant.

So did Sora. “Do you think they’ll give you much notice?”

“Probably not. If I can’t warn you ahead of time, I’ll… give you some kind of signal. A code-phrase.”

The three were all quiet for a moment, Kairi tracing aimless patterns on his chest in time with the movement of his fingers through her hair.

“‘This is how it had to be,’” he said. “I think that sounds suitably melodramatic if it happens in the moment, don’t you?”

“That line’ll be on every highlight compilation and news broadcast for at least a week. I don’t think they could write you something with more drama,” Sora said.

“ _Top ten cutting betrayals_ material for sure,” Kairi agreed, but she softened the comment with a kiss to the spot just under his collarbone.

“Maybe we’ll all get acting awards at the end. We can give some teary interviews about how we all knew he didn’t mean it, how our faith never wavered…” Sora suggested.

Kairi laughed at the thought. “You know, between what you said about ‘pining for the lovers you left behind,’ and ‘this is how it has to be,’ I really think you should start writing some of those ridiculous books you can buy at the grocery store checkouts.”

Short novels of varying quality about superheroes—some not-so-subtly based on real heroes—and their secret lives and dramas were a big market share. Kairi had read several. Some she’d wanted to throw out a window. Some she’d read so many times she’d had to tape the covers back together.

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, our audience loves a cliché.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that,” she said.

Riku pulled both of them in tighter. All three of them clung together, and Kairi desperately hoped _this_ was what their future was going to be, not whatever conflict was looming. But at least it was their present, and for now, that was enough.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio finally encounter their new enemies.

* * *

_Excerpt from An Introduction to the History of the Super-Powered by Victoria McGuire:_

As power manifestation events increased, soon it was not enough to classify all manifestations solely under the “superpower” heading. There were simply too many different types of power. Many researchers, reporters, and theorists all created different classification systems, ranging from two categories up to lists so sprawling and complex that each individual power was given a unique heading.

The version that has persisted the longest as the most functional is technically called the Vale-Martinez classification, coming from a blend of those two proposed groupings, however the official name is rarely used outside of theory texts. It broadly classes all manifested powers into five categories: Enhanced Ability, Elemental, Mental, Dimensional, or Artifact.

Enhanced Ability:

The most common type of manifested power is the enhanced ability. These are superhumans who show abilities that are not in and of themselves abnormal, but are present to an _extent_ that is beyond normal human ranges. There are plenty of strong people, but super strength goes beyond that. Running quickly isn’t abnormal, but super speed is.

Elemental:

The second most frequently seen subtype is elemental control. This category has been criticized for being too broad, but it still functionally groups like powers together. This refers to manifested abilities that grant a person control over something specific, but external to them. Most common are the classical elements: fire, water, air, electricity, etc. Sometimes these are more abstract, like spatial manipulation, or relatively nebulous concepts like light and dark.

Mental:

Mental powers are those that originate within the mind of the individual and exert power over something external, if the ability does not fall into one of the previous categories. (For example, while elemental fire control may originate in the mind, its effect is limited to a specific element.) This category includes things like telepathy, telekinesis, animal control, and newer powers such as technomancy. It is also the controversial designation for things like flight, which are somewhat more similar to enhanced ability (as they are a physical capability) but don’t meet the requirement that it be possible to a lesser extent in a non-superhuman.

Dimensional:

Dimensional superhumans are rare, and can be difficult to classify. Any superhuman, regardless of other powers, is considered “dimensional” if they are from a world or dimension other than this one. While this makes the category less based on description than origin, it’s valuable from a scientific standpoint, as the existence of dimensional individuals is of great interest for study. These individuals may be given a secondary classification as a better descriptor of their abilities.

Artifact:

The final category is artifact-granted. This is the rarest and in some ways least understood subtype. These individuals have, as suggested, an “artifact” of some type—often a weapon—that grants them abilities. They usually report having been “chosen” by these items, though sometimes it’s merely that they were the one to find said object. In many cases, they cannot be separated from their artifact, and attempts to do so fail. But in theory, were they to be separated, the individual would revert to being an ordinary person.

Undetected abilities?

There has been a valid criticism made of the general classification _at all_ of superhuman abilities, beyond disagreement over the classifications used. How is it determined what is human and what is superhuman? Particularly with “enhanced ability” powers, where is the dividing line between “extremely strong person” and “super strength?” Where is the dividing line between “record-setting world-champion runner” and “that athlete is actually superpowered, so they aren’t eligible to compete?”

Beyond that, it’s widely considered that superpowers began to appear just over 30 years ago, with potential consideration that some legends or historical figures may have been early examples. But what of superpowers that are sub-measurable? Is someone who never has a vending machine steal their money just fortunate, or are they a low-level technopath? If someone has a lucky charm that helps them ace their tests, could they actually have been chosen by an artifact that has a very specific effect? And taking those considerations into account, could that mean that superhuman abilities are far more common than is widely believed?

* * *

The Nobodies had grown more threatening. More sightings and outright altercations, to the point it seemed like everyone in the city must have had at least one encounter. No casualties yet, but the Heroes went about patrolling with the grim certainty that it was only a matter of time.

But other than the increase in number, there was no sign of the villainous “side” they were supposed to be preparing to fight against. None of the human-like intelligent enemies that were supposed to be lurking.

Patrols had been increased. When posted, the new schedules had almost all of the Heroes working six days out of the week, pairs and trios assigned to smaller than usual sections of the city, trying to keep up with the incoming reports. In times of non-crisis, the city generally had one or two teams on active patrol at a time, with the others “on call” in case something big happened. Now three and four teams were on duty at once, and it still didn’t feel like enough.

Radiance squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to shake exhaustion off. She’d had twice her usual amount of coffee, but she knew this was the kind of tired that nothing short of a full night’s sleep could touch.

“Nothing yet,” she said, trusting her voice would come through clearly.

She was almost always the lookout these days, since her powers were the least useful in a direct fight with the Nobodies. But with this kind of exhaustion, she was afraid of missing something.

_“Down here either.”_ Keyblade’s response was as clear as if he were speaking in her ear. _“It’s like no one is even out on the streets.”_

_“People are worried about these new monsters,”_ Corridor said. _“Not quite curfews, but it’s like people got when the Heartless first showed up.”_

Radiance remembered those confusing days. That was the first time they’d had genuine _monsters_ coming into the world. It had been decades since the first superheroes (and shortly after, villains) had appeared, so extraordinary danger wasn’t exactly new. But _creatures_ , dangerous and unreasoning, had been. The Nobodies were somehow _more_ frightening, since they represented something not yet understood, and _less_ , because at least they’d been through something like this before.

Three sharp beeps sounded over the communication system. Radiance winced. The sound was meant to get attention, but it sounded like something scratching the inside of her skull.

_“A report of several suspicious persons had come in,”_ said the dispatcher. _“One quarter mile north and two miles east of your position. Three people, dressed in black, no physical description. A shopkeeper confronted them for loitering, and one of them threatened her. Please investigate.”_ The three sharp beeps repeated.

_“You heard her.”_ Radiance felt the corridor open as soon as Corridor spoke. _“Let’s go.”_

His doorway opened behind her just long enough for her to step through, and then they were traveling in the direction they’d been directed toward. They found the shopkeeper who’d called for assistance with little trouble; she was waiting inside her store, but came out when she saw them. Her description wasn’t any more detailed than the dispatcher’s, but she pointed them down the street.

If anything, it felt even _more_ deserted than the first area they’d been in. These were mostly storefronts and restaurants that would usually have had signs out, or customers sitting outside enjoying the weather, but there was no one. A few nervous faces looking out the windows, and even more stores that already had closed signs up.

“I hope we aren’t just following some bored teenagers,” Corridor said after a few minutes.

“Yeah,” Keyblade agreed. “Considering how few people there are, I guess anyone out could be marked as somehow suspicious.”

They hadn’t seen the three people wearing black yet, but ahead, at the mouth of an alley, Radiance spotted the tell-tale flash of white that they’d grown too familiar with other the last few weeks.

The Nobodies drifted around the frame of a closed door, their focal point seeming to be the door itself as well as a pile of old papers left out with the trash.

Keyblade flicked his fingers, weapon coming into existence with the motion. His grip tightened, ready to engage, but Corridor held out an arm to stop him.

“Don’t you think they’re acting a bit odd?”

He was right. Radiance had seen dozens of the creatures by now, and while drifting down an alleyway wasn’t out of the ordinary, it was certainly strange for them to have an apparent focus. Particularly on something non-living.

“Are they looking for something?” she asked.

The Nobodies paused and turned toward the trio, as much as something faceless could be said to choose a direction. Radiance readied herself to draw them towards herself, so that Keyblade and Corridor had a better shot at taking them out. She gestured with her left hand, pulling it in a twisting motion toward herself, a hand signal to let the other two know what she was going to do.

But the creatures didn’t approach. Instead they retreated.

“Definitely odd,” Corridor said.

The three fell out of their ready postures and gave chase, following the Nobodies through the narrow alley and tight turns, suddenly letting out onto a quiet side street. The Nobodies seemed to be frustratingly matching their speed, never escaping, but never letting them get closer.

The buildings grew taller and denser, rapidly returning to true city streets. There were more cars on the road, and pedestrians hurrying out of the way of the monsters and Heroes.

“Are we heading into a trap?” Radiance asked.

She was furiously trying to overlay her mental map of the city to their current location. They’d already left the section they’d been assigned to patrol, though that was expected if a Hero team was in pursuit of a threat. She couldn’t see _how_ this could be an ambush; the creatures were taking them toward the _opposite_ of a dead-end. If the creatures kept going the way they were…

And they slid through another alley, which let out on a wide paved square. Flowerbeds and benches surrounded the area, a popular spot for people to meet and talk, have lunch, and the like. Usually it would have been crowded, but the few civilians who had been taking advantage of the space rapidly retreated when they spotted the Nobodies.

Corridor drew up short. “That can’t be good.”

Radiance stopped next to him, as did Keyblade. She immediately saw what he meant. A second small knot of the creatures… with Trickshot, Nocturne, and Gambler in pursuit.

But even as the two groups of Nobodies met, they didn’t turn to attack, instead drifting behind a group of people who were _not_ running for an escape.

It was a large group, almost all dressed identically in long black coats, except for one young woman jarringly clad in white.

The other three Heroes also stopped, keeping a safe distance. She saw Corridor make the hand symbol for ‘wait’ at them, and Trickshot made the same gesture back.

The group of strangers didn’t move to attack, though their stance was a clear implied threat. Radiance quickly did a headcount. Nine, plus the woman who looked like she was there just for contrast. Radiance almost wondered if she was a hostage, but she wasn’t trying to escape. Her eyes were downcast, but she didn’t look _distressed_.

One, a taller, muscular man with long dark hair and sideburns spoke first. His voice was deep and the tone was mocking. “So this is what the city has to offer.”

Clearly, he was not impressed and wanted them to know it.

Trickshot snapped, “More than enough to deal with you.”

Radiance took a deep breath. That was some bad math. But she also knew what this was. It was the posturing, the introduction. Not a full-blown fight, not yet, or else they wouldn’t still be standing off against each other. And she was glad of that. Nine, maybe ten of them, if the girl was also a combatant, versus six Heroes. And they also had the Nobodies. Those might not be impossible odds, but she didn’t particularly like them. 

Her eyes flicked automatically toward Gambler, who had to be examining those numbers _very_ carefully. The way he was frowning didn’t make her reconsider her assessment.

Another of the black-robed figures spoke, a woman with short blonde hair. “Is that so?” A twist of her hand revealed throwing knives gripped delicately between her fingers.

One of the other men put an arm in front of her.

“Come on Larxene, that’s not very friendly.” This man had bright red hair, and distinctive tattoos below his eyes.

Someone on their side had to respond now, that was the way these things worked. It was Keyblade, this time.

“If you’re working with those things, I don’t think we’re going to be friends.” He shifted his stance, holding out his weapon in a two-handed grip, making it clear he was ready to fight if they pushed it.

The first of the black-robes spoke again. “Very nice. Roxas has something like that.”

One of the shorter men in the crowd, youngish, with blond, spiky hair took a half step forward into his own stance, brandishing his own weapon… a keyblade almost identical to Keyblade’s.

“What?” Keyblade asked, his grip slackening as he almost stumbled backward.

Radiance felt an odd hollowness in her chest, and her heart seemed to still and then pound too fast to make up for it. A keyblade? That didn’t make any sense.

“How do you have that?” Keyblade shouted. “Who are you?”

The red-haired man smiled, like that was the _exact_ question he’d been hoping for. “We’re the Organization. Got it memorized?”

Radiance could hear the capital letter, as surely as she’d heard it when they started talking about an Event.

Then there was a lurch in the feeling of the world, just as a tear appeared in the substance of it. It looked something like one of the dark corridors, but jagged at the edges. The black-clad group and the girl in white stepped back, and the tear closed around them.

-

Corridor opened his own passage and pulled all three of them away.

They couldn’t go to the apartment; they were still on duty, and even if they hadn’t been concerned with finishing their shift, the Defenders of the Light would have had the right to follow them. He dropped them on the sheltered rooftop patio of a trendy club that wouldn’t be open for several more hours, a single story building with taller buildings on each side.

“What the hell was that?” Corridor asked.

Radiance replied, “How could someone else have a keyblade?” She looked over at Keyblade, like he might have an answer.

He just shook his head, leaning forward, hands braced on his thighs as if he were catching his breath after a long run. After a moment he just shook his head again.

Corridor was the first to recover, or at least to pull together an approximation of it. “We have to go make a report. This is the enemy we’ve been waiting for. We should have gone straight to Headquarters. Sorry.”

Radiance wanted to argue, to insist they deserved a moment to think, to sort through it, but she knew he was right. They were on the clock, and the Defenders of the Light needed to know that the enemy they’d been waiting for had shown up.

And they’d all promised that they were going to be _exemplary_ Heroes.

-

It was later that they finally had their chance to react with something other than detachment. The Defenders of the Light weren’t opposed to their Heroes showing emotion, but they preferred it on camera, not during a report. Those they preferred to be neutral, as if the whole altercation hadn’t _already_ been recorded and sent to the researchers to analyze.

So it was after they’d made their reports, pretending they were impartial, once they were off from scheduled patrol, when they could retreat to the apartment and really think about it.

Sora paced, Kairi sat on the couch, and Riku leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed.

“I thought I was the only one,” Sora said.

It was not the first time he’d said it, though Kairi understood why. The keyblade was literally integral to his identity as a Hero. And artifact-bestowed powers were rare as it was.

“It wasn’t just the keyblade. How good a look did you get at the person carrying it?” asked Riku.

Kairi answered with what little she did remember. “They called him ‘Roxas.’ Blond. Maybe a bit younger than most of them. Or just shorter.”

He waved his hand, dismissing that as inconsequential. “Yeah. His hair is shorter, and lighter, and styled differently. But did you see his face?”

Sora paused in his pacing to glare at Riku. “I think I was probably staring at the fact he had _my weapon._ ”

Riku hesitated, but then pressed on. “He looked like you.”

Kairi felt a chill down her spine and thought back. She had sort of glossed over it, even in her own mind. But the vivid blue eyes, the round, youngish face… they weren’t completely identical, but if they changed the hair, had the same expression on their faces…

Sora raked his hands through his spiky hair, messing it up even more. “Okay, then how the hell is there someone with _my weapon_ who also _looks like me?_ ”

“I guess that’s one of the things I’ll have to find out.”

“Is there anything else we know?” she asked. “There were ten of them total, dressed in black…”

“Mostly,” Sora corrected. “The girl was in white.”

She thought back to the woman. She hadn’t looked happy, or even comfortable, but she hadn’t been scared, and no one had been restraining her. “She didn’t seem like a hostage.”

“Naminé,” Riku said.

“What?” Kairi asked.

“I think that’s her name.”

Kairi shook her head. “None of them said her name. Of them all, we only got two introductions: Roxas, and Larxene. And that they call their group ‘The Organization.’”

“Naminé…” Sora repeated. “Why does that name sound familiar? Was that someone we used to know?”

“It doesn’t sound familiar to me at all,” Kairi said.

Riku shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m sure we’ll find out more.”

They weren’t able to spend the night together this time, no matter how much they wanted to. There was a press conference scheduled for the next morning, and all of them had to be perfectly presentable. And honestly, the day had given them all plenty to think about on their own.

-

By morning, _everyone_ had seen the footage from the encounter the previous afternoon. And even in the absence of direct violence, the threat this “Organization” represented was enough to frighten a lot of people.

The press conference took place in a room set up like a convention panel table, each of the Heroes with a mic, and a packed room of people hoping to get their questions answered.

But at least convention panels were _fun_. Radiance sighed. This wasn’t meant to be fun. She wanted to ease fears, of course. She understood why people were shaken up. Hell, _she_ was still shaken up, which made it that much more difficult to fulfill the symbolic role of the Hero, even as she recognized it was even more necessary.

Though in all honesty, she wasn’t having to do much besides sit there and look serious. All six of the Heroes who had been present for the “altercation” were here, which meant the questions were being shared, and not all that many had come to Radiance.

Ordinarily, that would be a cause for frustration. She would have been concerned that it meant she wasn’t being taken seriously, or worried about her numbers, since it was hard to get very many views or shares if she wasn’t recorded saying anything. But at the moment, it was a relief.

It was still hard to sit there, knowing almost as little as the people asking the questions.

Multiple people, some of whom she recognized from the formal press event, asked about the keyblade, and the fact that one of the new enemies had one. What that meant for Keyblade the Hero. How that was possible. If it meant something sinister about the weapon itself. They just kept rephrasing the questions when there wasn’t an answer they liked.

And all the answers the Heroes gave to every question could be distilled down to the same platitude: “We’re investigating all possibilities.”

-

The lack of official explanation didn’t stop the theories, and Kairi was torn between obsessively checking blogs and forum boards and wanting to avoid them entirely.

Aliens, new Heartless, time travelers… all of those theories were thrown around, sometimes joking, sometimes more than half not.

She should have been grateful, and in some detached way she supposed she was, because the not-quite-fight had certainly captured interest. All the Heroes who’d been there were trending, videos from the square where the tense stand-off had happened were being played over and over, and she knew they’d all get nice payments at the end of the month for it.

That was cold comfort against everything else; how little they personally knew, how the Defenders of the Light certainly knew more than they’d let on, how Riku was still slated to betray them.

The bed in her non-secret apartment felt even lonelier than usual, but they were still trying to be on their best behavior. For them, that meant at least _usually_ being exactly where they were supposed to be. A couple goodnight texts were still a lousy substitute for actually being together, but she finally managed to fall asleep.

It didn’t last long.

A sound woke Kairi, the noise of someone moving through her room.

Radiance had been through every training program ever offered to Superheroes in the region. So once she was awake, it was second nature to return her breathing to the natural cadence it had in sleep, to keep still and assess a potential threat. It was a useful skill for kidnappings, for being held hostage…

…And for waking up to an intruder. Whoever it was knew how to move quietly, footfalls barely discernible. There was a rustling of paper over near Kairi’s desk, followed by the soft sound of a framed picture being picked up and set back down. Kairi knew which one: a picture of the three of them, no masks, no secret identities. One of the small risks she’d taken, keeping something that connected their civilian identities to each other.

Radiance tensed, sitting up and turning toward the threat in one fluid motion, lights already flickering over her arms and down to her fingertips. She tried not to worry about how that made her identifiable, how this was probably just some burglar who had no idea the mayor’s daughter was also a Hero…

It was the young woman, the blonde who’d been with the rest of the Organization members, still in the white dress. Radiance’s flickering light illuminated it in the darkness, making the strange girl practically glow.

Naminé. That was what Corridor and Keyblade had called her, though they hadn’t known why.

She looked at Radiance with wide blue eyes, more surprised than frightened. The expression took on a briefly sad look as she said, “You’re a lucky girl.” Her voice was sweetly musical.

Radiance held up a hand, calling more light to illuminate the girl better, but didn’t even manage to get out of her bed before she felt the corridor open, and Naminé vanished.

And looking at the empty room, she wasn’t completely certain what Naminé had said. “You’re a lucky girl”? Or “You _were_ a lucky girl”?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name "Victoria McGuire" and the "Vale-Martinez classification" from the beginning "excerpt" are silly little easter eggs referring to a couple of my favorite novels that deal with superpowers. The "Villains" series by V.E. Schwab (the V stands for Victoria) features a character named Victor Vale. The "Velveteen vs." series by Seanan McGuire features a character named Velma Martinez.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance, Corridor, and Keyblade have an altercation...

* * *

_Excerpt from a Defenders of the Light internal report regarding the appearance of a superpowered child, apparently from an alternate dimension. The report is not signed, but it is speculated to have been written by Ansem, the then-leader of the organization._

At the height of the meteor shower last week, a girl, appearing about six year old, was found wandering down the beach west of the city. At first people assumed she was lost, having been separated from her family in the excitement, since the area was crowded as a popular viewing spot. But the girl was glowing, light dancing over her skin in a rainbow of colors.

When asked where she had come from, she didn’t have an answer, and she could not provide any information about where she lived, or about her family. She could speak perfectly well, and did not seem distressed about her lack of personal knowledge. The family that found the child brought her here, to the Defenders of the Light.

This may be the youngest manifestation of a power we have ever seen. While there has been a slow uptick in superhuman ability manifestations over the last decade and a half, they’ve almost all been among teenagers and pre-teens. Additionally, these abilities almost always manifest in an understandably untrained state, and require practice and refinement to bring under control.

This girl’s light is almost fully under her control already, and she was happy to demonstrate her talent with it when we set it up as a game. She was willing to “hand me” some of her light, to throw it at targets, to make it bright enough to read by, or to dim it down so she didn’t give herself away during a game of hide and seek.

The meteor shower was the only known physical evidence of a brief connection between our dimension and another. I believe this girl is also from that dimension.

Thirteen years ago, a similar event happened, which brought my young apprentice Xehanort to this world, so it’s not without precedent.

We will keep the girl here for now, continuing to study her powers as she’s willing to let us, and making sure she experiences minimal negative effects of being the only known person in her age range to have powers.

Perhaps if she can learn to keep her lights sufficiently suppressed for extended periods, she will be able to be adopted by an ordinary family and attend a public school. As it is, I worry too much about how she would be treated, as children can be cruel about things that mark someone as different. There’s the additional concern that if her abilities became public knowledge it could make it nearly impossible for her to ever decide in the future to have a low-profile life.

For the time being, she’s become everyone’s favorite, the whole of the Defenders of the Light doting on her. I admit it’s rather funny to see that sweetness coming from some of the more stoic and “tough” young adults and teenagers who make up this organization.

We’ve taken to calling her “Starchild,” a nod to her appearance seemingly from the stars. Though I suppose we should give her a more proper name.

* * *

Radiance ran along the hallway, looking for any exit. The only door was far behind her, and the white hall in front of her stretched on like it would never end.

She knew that was impossible, which meant this was absolutely some kind of extraordinary… something. An illusion, or a dimensional bend, or some kind of psychological manipulation. Something. And since there weren’t currently any supervillains on the known rosters that had that as part of their powersets, it was a good bet this had something to do with the Organization.

Radiance slowed, forcing herself _not_ to keep running, even though every instinct urged her to flee, to move as fast as possible, to escape.

How had she gotten here? The fact that that was a question she couldn’t _immediately_ find the answer to was another point in the “some kind of something unnatural” column. Though after a few moments she thought she’d reconstructed it.

It had been a patrol, all three of them again. And then _something_ had pulled them through a portal and into this place, whatever it was. At least she assumed Corridor and Keyblade had been pulled through, too. But for now she was here alone. She _couldn’t_ tell how long it had been. It felt simultaneously like she’d been running through white hallways forever _and_ like it had been minutes at most. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.

She tapped the mic by her ear. No response, and she couldn’t tell if it was still transmitting or not. But no matter what it felt like, she knew she hadn’t really been in this blank space forever.

As if that realization was enough, suddenly there were stairs, cut out from the middle of the wall where there’d been nothing before.

She sighed. It was probably a bad thing to follow the mysterious, possibly-illusionary staircase, but… well.

Climbing the stairs took her to another level, all the same gleaming white. The first hall had been almost claustrophobic, urging her to hurry along, as if the walls would close in at any moment. Now the ceilings were vaulted, and not totally featureless. There were architectural flourishes, arches and carvings up high, but they were all the exact same shade of white. The lack of true contrast made the heights even more dizzying.

It was impossible not to make some connection between the unending white of this place and the Nobodies they’d been facing. She already knew this had to be the Organization’s doing. But what did it say about a group that seemed to prize stark, impersonal white, and then decked themselves (with the exception of Naminé) out in black? Was it for contrast? Drama? Afraid they’d lose each other in the halls if they blended in?

She kept walking, still not letting herself run. It would be too easy to let running creep into blind panic, or to miss a detail, or to exhaust herself. She tapped on the earphone again, but there was still no response.

The next corridor brought her to another set of stairs, now heading down. But for the first time, there was a sound other than her own footsteps. Ambient noise, the sound of a fireplace— _why? This is summer_ —but compared to the nothing of before, it stood out.

These stairs led down into a library, a shocking contrast to everything she’d seen so far. This space was warm and personal and inviting. Floor-to-ceiling shelves were full of books, mostly old leather-bound volumes. The shelves created their own paths through the space, sometimes opening onto sitting areas with overstuffed leather armchairs, or finely polished wooden tables perfect for studying at.

The fireplace she’d heard was there and very inviting, with plush loveseats set up in front of it.

As she kept walking, she reached a taller atrium in the middle, revealing just how large the library was.

Maybe strangest of all, it felt _familiar_. Radiance had no idea why. The only library she’d spent any time in was the public city library, which while wonderful, was almost nothing like this. This seemed much more private and personal, books organized by some system she couldn’t start to guess.

It was tempting to pull a book from one of the shelves, to sit down in one of the comfortable looking chairs, to take a break…

“Absolutely not.”

Her own voice startled her, since she hadn’t planned on saying anything out loud. But now that she had:

“This is a great setup, and I appreciate how you’ve managed to make it especially appealing after all your awful hallways. But I’m not interested.”

She clenched her hands and walked through. She didn’t even venture onto the mezzanine level that circled the open central area. She did glance out the two-story window, but couldn’t focus on anything beyond the glass, so she didn’t try.

The shelves could easily turn into a maze, and yet she knew the way to the door. Another thing she couldn’t spend too much time thinking about yet.

The double doors were locked. _Wait here_ , they seemed to say. _You can’t go yet anyway, so what’s the harm?_ And then another push of temptation: _Maybe you’ll find answers here. Maybe you’re_ supposed _to be here, to find out the things you need to know._

Usually she wished they’d just let her have a damn knife, but right now she’d have settled for a blunt instrument.

She knocked on the door, faux polite. “Hey! I already said I wasn’t interested. I really _do_ appreciate all the impossible architecture stuff you’ve got going on, so it would suck for me to have to rig a battering ram out of one of those lovely chairs just to get through the door.”

If the click of a lock disengaging could sound _sullen_ , this one managed it.

“Thank you,” she said brightly, opening the door onto yet another obnoxiously white hallway. The door closed behind her, but the lock didn’t reengage. Leaving it an open invitation.

A few steps out into the empty hall—another built on the "dizzying heights” model—and she was already sick of it.

“I appreciate you unlocking the door for me. I’d appreciate it more if you’d just show yourself so we could get whatever this is over with.” 

She was sure there was something listening, paying attention, but it didn’t answer. She hadn’t really anticipated it would, but it still would have been nice.

Another arched hallway, leading to another uncomfortably small passage where the ceiling was barely above her head. It felt like she’d doubled back to areas she’d already been, and yet none of it looked completely familiar, despite everything looking the same. It was very disconcerting. She wasn’t sure if she should be glad or worried that it all seemed to be pointing her in a single direction; no branching paths, no maze to try and map her way through.

And finally, a door opened into a wide space, something of a cross between a room and an arena. Still all white, but at least she wasn’t alone.

“Keyblade! Corridor!”

The other two had just come through doors of their own, all converging on this one space.

“Radiance!” Keyblade called.

He was about to break into a run to join up with her, when ice crackled across the floor, slicking the entire center of the room.

An Organization member stepped forward out of nothingness. This hadn’t been accompanied by the feeling of one of the dark corridors, just suddenly they were there where no one had been before.

The Organization’s “uniform” had a hood, but this member’s was pushed back, showing the man’s narrow face, framed by long pale hair. The way his hand was flared out meant he was the likely source of the ice. The fact he had no trouble walking on it seemed like further support for the theory.

A second Organization member appeared behind him, also with his hood down. His hair was a striking blue-purple, hiding part of his face from view.

Now should have been the time for more posturing. They were past the initial introduction, though Radiance didn’t recognize either of these two from the group they’d encountered in the square. But they weren’t saying anything, and she found herself at a loss for words.

The quiet still present from her earphone—she should at least be able to hear Keyblade and Corridor, now that they were right here, but she couldn’t—made her question whether there would be any record of this at all. That worried her.

“Where did you bring us?”

Of course it would be Corridor to ask, straight to the point.

The second Organization member replied, “You don’t like it?”

“It’s not really to my taste,” Radiance answered.

He gave her a cool look, as if he knew something she didn’t, and she found herself thinking strongly of the oddly-familiar library.

“You could at least introduce yourselves,” Corridor suggested.

The Organization member who’d iced over the floor said, “Oh, You’ve met the Organization before. But my name is Vexen, and this is my associate Zexion.”

Corridor reached down for his knife. “I do like to know, specifically, whose ass I’m about to kick.”

Vexen sneered. “How crude.”

And that was apparently the cue.

Vexen cast his hand out again, fingers splayed, and the ice in front of him fragmented, spiking upward in a snaking trail toward Corridor.

Corridor stepped to the side, avoiding the attack, though he was limited in motion by the ice still covering the floor.

Keyblade was ready to charge, probably counting on momentum to be enough, even on the slick floor, to let him close with their opponents. 

Lights sparked off Radiance’s skin as she tried to assess her best move.

Zexion made some sort of complicated gesture, and the rest of the room vanished, replaced by more white walls, only the two of them left standing there.

She took a deep breath. He was either a reality manipulator or an illusionist. It was hard to tell the difference, if the illusionist was skilled enough. 

Zexion rushed at her, in the suddenly narrowed room, leaving her only a moment to decide, to dodge left or right. So she didn’t. She squared her hips, shifted her weight to plant herself as firmly as possible, and she lunged _into_ the rush.

He hadn’t been expecting it. Her elbow caught him in the chest, and she felt it jar her all the way into her shoulders and neck, staggering back a step, but not overbalancing.

The walls around them dissolved—an illusionist then, she noted in some detached part of her mind—as Zexion fell back, gasping.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Keyblade had completed his rush toward Vexen, and the two were engaged in combat, Vexen holding the keyblade at bay with a shield that seemed at least partially made of his ice. Maybe the fight was dividing his attention, because the ice on the ground had begun to melt, the thin layer growing patchy.

The final person she needed to keep track of was Corridor, and he was coming at her, and at Zexion, who had retreated a few steps to recover. Corridor’s knife was out, his expression focused and bordering on angry. The walls Zexion had put up must have hidden them, or made them vanish entirely.

“Are you all right?” Corridor’s words were clipped, short. He didn’t alter his course.

“He’s an illusionionist.” She answered the unspoken: _You disappeared._

Zexion had already turned back toward her, his fingers twitching toward whatever pattern he used for the illusions he created.

Corridor was faster. He reversed his grip on the knife, striking forward with the hilt instead of the blade, lending extra weight to an already powerful blow. It connected with the side of Zexion’s head, the kind of hit that should have sent him to his knees, probably with a concussion. And he did fall to his knees, hand going to the place he’d been struck.

Corridor danced back a couple of steps, out of range if Zexion had an immediate counterattack, while he flipped the blade back around. Radiance kept her stance ready, waiting to see if Zexion was going to get back up.

He didn’t. His hand slipped away, and where Radiance expected to see bright blood, a strange kind of smoky shadow boiled. Not the clinging, liquid-dark of the Heartless, more like the vapor of dry ice if it were made of darkness.

She felt herself draw back from the _wrongness_ of it. Zexion made a choking sort of noise, maybe in response to the dark not-blood. She stepped forward before she even knew what she planned to do. At the very least it was their responsibility to get him out of this place and back to where he could be given medical attention as well as be arrested.

But in the time it took for her to take that step, the dark vapor had spread. It was like his entire outline was starting to blur, some necessary cohesion lost. He looked at her, expression a sickening mix of rage, fear, and sorrow.

She was still moving forward, but by the time she’d taken her second step, he was gone, the darkness wisping away into the air.

A shattering noise drew both her and Corridor’s attention across the field, where Keyblade had landed a blow that destroyed Vexen’s shield, sending fragments of ice flying. The momentum continued, and the keyblade struck Vexen full force. Radiance had seen that sort of strike break bones before, so it was no surprise that Vexen fell to the ground.

But as Keyblade pulled back, a wisp of black vapor trailed his weapon. More of it bubbled up from the line of Vexen’s chest where the keyblade had struck, spilling to the floor and dispersing as the body itself disappeared.

They barely had time to stare at each other in horrified shock when the impossible castle faded away from around them, leaving them standing in the city square.

-

Radiance felt sick as she gave her report. Bad enough that it was considered serious enough that all three had to give said reports separately, and she was the last. But it was immeasurably worse because they had to give their reports directly to Xehanort himself, which was practically unheard of.

He wasn’t an overly-present figure in the Heroes’ ordinary routines, mostly sticking to the behind the scenes administrative work the Defenders of the Light required, and they were comfortable with that. She’d interacted with him directly more times in the last few weeks than she had for months before that.

She described everything from the moment she’d come to in the strange maze-like corridors, up through the fight with the Organization members, and then suddenly finding themselves back in the city. She strove for some kind of credible impartiality, rather than numb shock, but had no idea how well she succeeded.

It was expected that there would be casualties in fights that involved superhumans. It was terrible, but generally accepted as an inevitability. But _fatally_ harming a human opponent was supposed to be an absolute last resort. Certainly not in the first engagement with a new enemy, and certainly not twice in one altercation.

They hadn’t meant to, that was what Radiance was most desperate to get across. Especially for Corridor. As long as he was being forced to walk the anti-hero/villain line, she couldn’t risk anyone believing he’d _intentionally killed_ an opponent.

“I saw both of the engagements,” she said. “Both of the… finishing blows should have been incapacitating. I wouldn’t have expected either to be fatal. Corridor had specifically attacked with the hilt of his knife, not the blade, in order to _prevent_ a fatal wound.”

Xehanort held up a hand. “Relax, neither of your fellow heroes is on trial here. We’re just gathering information. You said that neither of these Organization members left bodies?”

“No.” She described the black vapor that they’d seemingly turned into, like it had leaked out of them, and they’d dissolved. The thought still made her queasy. The Heartless and the Nobodies disappeared when they were destroyed, but they weren’t _people._

“They must have had a weak grasp on their forms,” Xehanort said, making notes on the tablet in front of him.

“What?”

“Nothing for you to be concerned about, Radiance. It’s valuable data for us. I’ll pass it along to our researchers, and we’ll see how we can improve going forward.”

She nodded a bit numbly. Valuable data. Of course. If this could help limit the danger this group presented, that was a good thing.

“For now, I’ll recommend all of you for a counseling session, though I don’t believe you should allow this to disturb you overly much. These weren’t humans. They were creatures. And if damage done in a standard fight was enough to kill them, that isn’t your fault.”

“Yes sir. Thank you.”

He waved a hand to dismiss her. She was grateful to leave Xehanort’s office, a space she’d seen far more of recently than she’d wanted to.

Corridor and Keyblade were waiting for her in the hallway. They indulged in a quick hug, the kind that was acceptable for teammates who’d just come through a fight to share.

They had to withdraw sooner than she would have preferred, but she knew they’d meet up at the apartment later, and they’d have at least a little time together.

-

“So, what did you see when we were in the castle?” Sora asked, settling back into the couch cushions.

“Besides the endless white?” Riku asked.

“A library,” Kairi answered. “I mean, mostly it was the weird all-white maze of hallways and rooms, but then I was suddenly in this ornate two-story library. It was beautiful, and the kind of place I would have really enjoyed exploring. But it was like it _knew_ that, and was trying to force me to stop and stay there.”

“It was elementary school for me,” Riku said. “Maybe not as appealing as your library, Kairi, but it was kind of the same. It was like… weaponized nostalgia. My old classroom, the playground… all of it wanted me to go back, to spend time there. It’s sort of embarrassing how tempting it was. And like if I did stop, I might not ever remember to leave.”

“What about you, Sora?” Kairi asked.

“I was on the beach we used to go to when I was a kid. It was the weirdest thing, to go from one of those big white rooms to like… sandy beach and sun.”

“The beach?” Riku asked. “The one to the south that we’d go to over the summer?”

“Yeah, that’s the one! You, me, and Naminé… I remember piling in my mom’s car at like 5:30 in the morning just so we could get there and still have the whole day.”

“What?” Kairi asked, a bit more sharply than she’d intended.

Sora just looked at her. “Oh, it was a beach we used to visit on summer vacation. It’s a few hours away, but—”

She cut him off. “No, I know where it is, we went there every year.”

He smiled, though he looked a little confused. “You went there too?”

“What? I went _with you._ ”

Sora blinked. “Oh, yeah. Of course. So you know which one I mean, then. _That_ was the beach I saw in the castle. I really wanted to just like, lay down and sunbathe or wade in the water, but I knew I couldn’t. How did the castle do that, do you think?”

“Do you think it was pulling things from our memories?” Riku asked. “The beach was a strong memory for you. Elementary school for me. It’s like it was finding something that would give us that desire to stay and explore. I don’t know why, though. All three of us made it through without getting trapped. If it had been merely to delay us, they could have just kept us looping through the white hallways.”

“Why did you say ‘Naminé’?” Kairi asked. “When you were describing the beach. You said that you, Riku, and _Naminé_ used to go there.”

A crease appeared between Sora’s eyebrows. “I don’t know. I know it was the three of us. I must have been thinking about her, with the whole Organization thing.”

The answer didn’t make her feel any less troubled. “But we still don’t even know how you knew her name in the first place. And then it was like you still didn’t remember that I’d been there.”

“I don’t know.” Sora shook his head. “I’m probably just stressed, y’know? I _know_ it was you, me, and Riku who went there together.”

“Did you recognize the library?” Riku asked. “If the castle was conjuring up places we remembered.”

She shook her head, and tried to forget about Sora having misspoken. That happened to everyone sometimes, right? “No, it wasn’t the city library. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it before, except… it _felt_ familiar. Like I did know my way around. But I can’t imagine that I’d ever actually been there.”

“Maybe we’re wrong about the memory thing, then,” Riku allowed.

An alarm sounded on her phone. “Ah, crap.” She made a face. “I have to go. Promised to spend the evening with my parents. They’re going on a trip in a couple weeks, so they want to spend some quality time before that.”

“Are you on shift tomorrow?” Riku asked.

“No, they have me scheduled for another medical appointment. One of the extra sessions that’s supposed to help me ‘cope’ with the alternate dimension thing.”

He made a sympathetic face. “I think Keyblade and I are being assigned some extra counseling after what happened today.”

Impulsively, she pulled him in for a hug. “I know the Defenders of the Light’s counseling is sort of a joke, but if you need anything…”

This time they didn’t have to quickly let go for propriety’s sake, and he held her just tight enough and just long enough that she knew he’d needed the hug. “Yeah, thanks. I’m glad…” he faltered. “It’s awful to say, but I’m glad it wasn’t on camera. That it happened in their dimension where our tech was knocked out. Because I don’t want anyone to see it.”

She pulled him into a second hug, and nodded against his shoulder. It did feel like a terrible thing, to be relieved that no one would see what had happened. They were _always_ on camera, and it was largely for marketing, but it also meant that none of them could abuse their powers. Being relieved no one could examine their actions felt wrong, but the idea of everyone seeing Corridor and Keyblade apparently accidentally kill their enemies… that felt worse.

Riku let her go, and she turned toward Sora. “You too.” She opened her arms.

Sora pulled her close, and kissed her forehead. “Thank you. We’ll be alright.”

She smiled. “I know you will be, but that doesn’t mean you don’t ever need help.”

“We’ll let you know if we do,” he assured her.

“Need a ride home?” Riku asked, hand already up to summon a corridor for her.

“You know, that would be great.”

-

The “medical” part of her appointment the next day was over quickly—checking her vitals and drawing just one vial of blood this time—and the rest of the time was given over to the “counseling” that was the real goal of the day.

This was probably one of the most traditional counseling appointments she’d ever had. It didn’t take place in the exam room, for once. Instead, she was shown to an actual office, with a chair padded enough to even be comfortable.

The therapist, or whatever her official title was, was another one that Radiance had seen before, but she didn’t remember the woman’s name.

The woman glanced over Radiance’s file before smiling warmly and asking, “So, Radiance. How have you been doing?”

She hated open-ended questions like that. It always felt like there was a right answer that she couldn’t hope to give, so she stuck to the safe answer. “I’ve been all right.”

“There was some concern from the research department that dimensional Heroes might start to experience distress now that we’re in the middle of… dimensional contact, you could call it. Have you noticed anything strange?”

Radiance shifted in her seat. “Not beyond the dimensional contact itself. We had an encounter yesterday that didn’t exactly go well.”

“Ah, yes. I heard about that.” And then, as if that was of no concern, “The notes indicate you were going to continue working on memory recall from the time before you arrived here. Have you met with any success on that front?”

Radiance shook off her irritation at the obvious subject change, and opened her mouth to say no, the now-habitual response every time they asked. Except... she did have something she could share. “Maybe. When we were pulled into that other dimension yesterday, both Keyblade and Corridor said they encountered places that had been modeled after things they remembered from childhood. I also encountered something like that, but for me it _wasn’t_ somewhere I recognized. Except, well, it _felt_ like I did.”

She went on to describe the library, how she thought she’d known more about it than she’d actually seen. Even now, she felt like she knew exactly where to find little reading nooks she hadn’t explored, shelves that held books she loved, even though she hadn’t stopped to look at any of them.

The therapist took notes on her tablet, until a small unobtrusive chime played, warning that their time was almost up.

“Well Radiance, that sounds extremely promising. It sounds likely that this was a successful reconstruction of a buried memory from your childhood. I think everyone will be pleased.”

“Everyone?”

“Your therapy team,” the woman said with a smile. “We all enjoy celebrating successes like this. For now, I believe you should try to explore this. Perhaps some visualization exercises. See if you can visualize walking through this library, maybe seeing what is behind any of the doors. Or think about events that may have occurred there, or people you might interact with.”

Radiance smiled, though it felt stiff on her face. Of course the information was shared between the many different people she saw, but she wasn’t sure how this could really be considered a ‘success’ for _them_. It hadn’t been their ‘exercises’ that had jarred the memory loose. It had been constructed by an _enemy._

She wished she’d had a chance to maybe bring up the fact she thought one of the Organization members had been in her apartment, but maybe it was for the best she hadn’t had a chance. She’d half-convinced herself it had just been a dream, and even if it hadn’t been, there was little the Defenders of the Light could do. Maybe they could make her stay somewhere else, but she didn’t want that. And if it had been real, she had a feeling uprooting from her apartment wouldn’t actually help. Better to wait, and remain careful.

She thanked her therapist, and left the Headquarters building, feeling even more unmoored than she had before the session.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight against the Organization takes an unpleasant turn.

* * *

_Confidential memo sent internally to members of the Defenders of the Light:_

**Confidential, not for distribution**

To our devoted Heroes:

This report is to give you the information we currently know about the Organization, from research conducted internally and based on reports from our Heroes. We will continue updating as we learn more. Please keep in mind this is for your knowledge and protection only, and this information is not to be shared externally.

Here is a list of known Organization members and their abilities. Any members whose abilities are unknown are a top priority to gather information on:  
Axel - elemental fire  
Demyx - elemental water  
Larxene - elemental lightning  
Lexaeus - enhanced strength  
Luxord - unknown  
Marluxia - elemental plant control  
Naminé - unknown  
Roxas - artifact “keyblade”  
Saix - unknown  
Vexen - elemental ice - PRESUMED DECEASED  
Xaldin - elemental air  
Xigbar - appears to have a special firearm; artifact?  
Zexion - illusionist - PRESUMED DECEASED

As always, if any further information, additional or contradictory to the above, becomes clear, please report it immediately to the Defenders of the Light.

Thank you for helping us to Defend the Light.

* * *

The day of her therapy session had been Radiance’s only break. After that, it was back to patrol, along with what felt like at least half of the Defenders of the Light’s roster of Heroes on any given day.

Expanded patrols made sense. Almost all of the Heroes had had encounters with the Organization since their original appearance, though none of the others had reported being drawn into the other dimension. The Defenders of the Light had used the various reports to provide what intelligence they could to the Heroes, and it suggested that there were likely at least eleven members of the Organization in the city. That number included Naminé, which _was_ apparently an accurate name. Every Organization member had, or was presumed to have, some kind of superpower. And the Nobodies were still a threat as well.

Zexion and Vexen had been the only casualties so far. Reporting on that altercation had been minimal, and had kept to a neutral tone: Keyblade and Corridor had acted in self-defense and had neutralized the threat posed by two of the Organization members. As conflicted as she still was over it, she was still relieved they weren’t confronted with video evidence of it at every turn.

Ordinary patrolling was a relief compared to the alternate dimension. At least this was, in the most literal sense, familiar territory. Days blurred together, with the skirmishes constant but small. Most came with no clear winners, just collections of small injuries and exhaustion.

Kairi hadn’t had a chance to see Riku or Sora since the “dimensional encounter” as it was being called, instead having to content herself with quick, non-incriminating texts. At least Radiance was always patrolling with one of them, if not both. And when she did get a half or full day off, the two of them were patrolling together. It was better than nothing, but no substitute for genuine time spent together out of costume.

She was trying not to allow it to bother her, though it seemed to be taking a toll on all three of them. Corridor especially had been quiet, bordering on withdrawn.

Now all three were on the hunt for a group of Organization members that had been spotted in one of the city parks. There’d been a small fire, though no one was hurt, and it was assumed the Organization was responsible.

Oddly, the Organization didn’t really seem to be _doing_ much in the way of villainy. They seemed more interested in goading Heroes into fights, containing their crimes to fairly petty actions. But the fights against the Defenders of the Light were genuine and violent.

The fact that there’d been a fire that prompted this call meant that Axel was probably one of the members they were looking for, since he was a fire-manipulator.

Radiance was on rooftop duty _again_ , since she was at the biggest disadvantage in a close fight. She tried not to be resentful. She failed, but she still tried. This particular roof was the largest and highest around, the top of a hotel that towered high above the park itself and the nearby retail stores. She hadn’t spotted anything yet, but this was the best vantage in the area where the fire had been set.

A crunch of gravel on the flat roof behind her was the only alert she had to someone behind her. Nothing had come over her earpiece, so she knew it wasn’t Keyblade or Corridor coming to keep her company.

She didn’t immediately react, instead tensing without letting it alter her posture much. When the person a few yards behind her shifted, feet moving minutely over the bits of loose gravel _just so_ , she rolled sideways.

Just in time, as a lick of fire cut through the spot she’d been crouched, heat intense enough to feel even from feet away.

By now she’d righted herself, facing her opponent. Axel, of course. She gave one sharp whistle into her mic and a flare of bright sparks upward from her position as an initial alert. “Found our firestarter.”

“ _We’re on our way,_ ” Keyblade answered, voice immediate and clear in her ear.

“Firestarter. That’s pretty catchy,” Axel said. “Seems like the sort of name a Superhero would have.”

“More like a Supervillain,” she snapped.

He raised a hand, fire coming to life in the space around his fingers, which he spun into a rotating ball. “Supervillains, are we? That seems awfully judgemental.”

“Don’t like being called a Villain, don’t act like a Villain.” Fragments of light hovered and danced around her fingers, though she was aware just how sad that looked in comparison to the fire Axel controlled.

“I’m not sure how much room you have to lecture us about that.”

The words had an edge she could feel, making it clear he knew what had happened in the castle. Of course he would. It was his teammates who had… died.

The sick unease that still prompted overpowered the feel of the corridor opening as her backup arrived.

Keyblade and Corridor moved to her sides, all three standing in a ready stance. Three against one should have made for a quick fight, except for new dark doorways, cut jagged through the air, opening behind Axel.

Two new Organization members stepped through. One Radiance recognized as Larxene, the woman who’d been there at the first encounter. The second was less familiar, but tall and broad enough she knew from the reports they’d been given he was probably Lexaeus. Electricity-imbued daggers and super strength, respectively; plenty of fun to fight against.

The first throwing knife flew past Radiance’s face, a crackle of electricity stinging her cheek. She threw a bolt of her own light back, though Larxene side-stepped it easily.

“Must be a shame to have light that’s just for show,” the other woman taunted.

Radiance bit back a less-than-clever reply that would have gotten her a profanity writeup. Because yes, she’d love something with more kick, but she worked with what she had.

Larxene was not an ideal opponent for her, since Radiance had to rely on close combat in absence of a weapon, and prolonged contact with a human livewire was a capital-B Bad Idea. Fortunately, Radiance had been pitted against Nymph in sparring matches and the “Heroine vs Heroine” exhibition fights that they both loathed for years, so she had a couple strategies.

The fact that Nymph and Larxene had such similar powers seemed like a strange coincidence, considering how few female Heroes there were in this region _and_ how few women seemed to be part of the Organization, but Radiance pushed the thought aside as she dodged another of the electrified knives.

A rumble at her feet pulled a fraction of her attention toward where Keyblade was guarding against Lexaeus. The enormous man had a firmly grounded stance, with one hand held in an upturned fist. The gravel that had worn loose on the roof rattled, lifting itself up around them.

_Fuck._ She kept the curse purely internal, but it looked like he had a power other than the super-strength they’d been briefed on. Elemental earth, maybe?

Radiance had to trust Keyblade to handle it. The slight motion of the gravel was enough to complicate her own movements, and made her glad they weren’t fighting on solid ground. If he was an earth manipulator, that could get very dangerous very quickly.

Larxene was readying another of her blades, balancing it lightly between her fingers as she judged Radiance’s position. Radiance ducked low, pulling as much light to her fingers as possible before rushing forward.

She sent her collected light in a concentrated bolt directly at Larxene’s face.

Radiance’s light may have been “harmless” or “just for looks,” but she’d yet to meet something that could see and _wouldn’t_ try to avoid a moving ball of sun-bright light coming toward their face.

Larxene did not prove to be the exception. She ducked, throwing up her arm to hide behind the long dark sleeve. The light crashed into her, showering her in more blindingly intense sparks. She regained her balance quickly enough, but still staggered, blinking watering eyes as she tried to focus.

She’d probably be unable to see much of anything for a little while; the light Radiance had thrown at her would be like staring at the sun, or at least an extremely bright stadium light, head-on. 

Radiance rushed forward, aiming a low kick at Larxene’s knees. It landed perfectly, Larxene collapsing with a cry.

“Not just for looks,” Radiance couldn’t resist snapping.

The other woman slashed out blindly with the knife still in her fingers, but Radiance was able to dodge it easily, the blade missing her by nearly a foot. She brought up her own arm in a sharp upward strike, hitting Larxene in the wrist and sending the knife flying.

Radiance tucked and rolled toward it and picked it up, relieved when it only gave her the barest shock of static. The knife was definitely made for throwing rather than cutting; the point could wound, but the edges weren’t particularly sharp.

Even so, Radiance held it like a regular knife, fingers tight around the lower part that served as a hilt. She didn’t have the skill to throw it with any expectation of accuracy, and she didn’t want to throw away the only weapon she had, however temporarily she had it. Even though she hoped she wouldn’t actually have to use it to cut anyone.

_Using a weapon comes across as “too aggressive” to test audiences,_ she heard in her mind, and shook it away.

Larxene was still casting around to refocus on Radiance, but her vision would probably start to clear soon. Radiance pushed her advantage while she had it, lunging up just to the side, pushing the knife up under Larxene’s jaw.

“Surrender to the Defenders of the Light, and you won’t be harmed.”

It was a gamble. Radiance had positioned herself so she could press with the knife point if Larxene moved, but she was still in danger of being electrocuted if Larxene got a hand on her too quickly. And there were two more Organization members out here: if either of them were watching too closely, if Keyblade or Corridor weren’t holding their full attention…

Larxene gave a bitter laugh. “Unlikely,” it sounded like she muttered.

Radiance wondered for a second whether Larxene meant her surrender was unlikely, or if the promise she wouldn’t be harmed was the unlikely part. But then a black-hole tear appeared behind Larxene, and she fell backwards into it.

“No!” Radiance cried, reaching toward her, but she’d already vanished into the blackness. There was a split second where Radiance considered following her through, but that would have been foolish at best.

Angrily, she spun to lend aid to Keyblade or Corridor.

Corridor and Axel were trading strikes in what looked almost like a dance. Keyblade was holding his own against Lexaeus, despite the Organization member having a significantly larger weapon.

Radiance sent a quick stroke of light out to glint off of the keyblade adding an extra flare of brightness the next time Keyblade swung it, producing a muted version of the effect she’d gone for with Larxene.

Still, it got Lexaeus to look away for a moment, giving Keyblade an opening for an extra strike.

She heard a sharp exhale come through her earpiece, and since she was watching Keyblade, it had to be from Corridor. She turned to scan for him.

“Stop!” Axel’s voice rang out, loud enough to draw attention.

And both she and Keyblade did as he’d said. Corridor was flat on his back, Axel’s spinning fire hovering just in front of his chest and throat.

Radiance put up her hands and dropped the knife she’d taken from Larxene. Keyblade withdrew, letting his weapon sag down in his hand. Not total surrender, not yet, but Corridor was their immediate priority.

Lexaeus also pulled away from Keyblade, not pressing an advantage. He moved faster than someone that large, carrying a sword that impossibly huge, should have been able to, and retreated so he was standing just behind Axel.

“You know, if that’s the best you have, I’m going to be disappointed,” Axel said, staring down at Corridor.

“Let him go!” Keyblade yelled. It was the useless kind of thing that Heroes had to yell, even though it never made a difference.

“Oh, I’m not going to hurt him.” The fire vanished from Axel’s fingers, and he turned his hand palm up.

Corridor took it, letting Axel pull him to his feet.

Radiance felt a chill down her back. _This is how it always had to be._ She waited for the words.

Corridor looked right at Keyblade, and then at Radiance, expression cold and blank. He flicked his wrist to open a corridor. Lexaeus stepped through, followed by Axel.

Corridor paused for just a moment, still staring at them. And then he turned and stepped through, saying nothing at all.

-

Radiance couldn’t breathe.

She barely remembered getting off the roof, and only Keyblade’s firm grip on her arm grounded her at all. They were in a stairwell now, she dimly realized, though she couldn’t have said whether it was in the hotel they’d been on top of or not. They’d stopped walking.

She was racking her brain, trying to think if there was some way she’d missed the signal. Had he said it when Axel knocked him down? No, because she’d heard him when he got the wind knocked out of him. The mics had been working perfectly.

And he’d paused, looking right at her. It was like he was making _sure_ she knew he wasn’t saying anything, drawing attention to the absence of the words.

“Why?” she whispered. “He didn’t, I mean…”

Keyblade pressed a quick finger to her lips, cutting off her babbling, and gave a minute shake of his head. Of course, she couldn’t say anything that would imply they’d had a planned signal. Even if it hadn’t come.

But he knew the same thing she did, that something was wrong. Something had changed. His big blue eyes, visible behind his mask, were wet with unshed tears.

Some little detached part of her noted that at least the shock and betrayal would seem _genuine_ now. No need to do their best impressions, not when it was real.

She gave into the tears first. Keyblade pulled her close, letting her cry on his shoulder, careful of the spikes on her mask, and just hugging her. She thought he might be crying too, muffling it in her hair and at her shoulder.

The shock took over for a few minutes, her mind somehow spinning and blank at the same time. She clung to Keyblade, unable to do anything else. She only really came back to awareness when Keyblade shook her shoulder. Absently, she realized he’d been speaking to her. She blinked, eyes swollen and sticky, tears drying under her mask.

“We have to make our report,” he repeated. “We can’t go missing, too.”

She nodded. Because regardless, it all marched on.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reality of Corridor's actions begins to set in...

* * *

_Excerpted transcript from an op-ed video, posted over 6 months ago to “defendersofthestarlight’s” online video channel. It is filmed by webcam, the single camera framing the speaker while they talk:_

**Born to Betray: Corridor WILL Betray the Defenders of the Light!**

So, I’m saying that Corridor will betray us again. How could I possibly see that coming?

The real question is, how _couldn’t_ I? And how couldn’t you?

His history, for one, makes it _clear_ that he is apparently predisposed to betrayal. At the age of 16, after having been a- a “Hero” for two short years, he joined forces with The Bad Fairy and her assortment of other villains, helping to kidnap, uh, or attempt to kidnap, a number of heroines who had long fought against those villains.

Apologists claim that his walk on the villainous side was short in duration, as if that somehow absolves him of responsibility. That Keyblade and Starchild, much less so-called “controversial” Heroes, forgave him, despite having been directly impacted by what he did. That he has publicly apologized, and maintained it was a mistake he deeply regrets. Oh, it’s been such a long time… blah blah.

Keyblade and Starchild were _victims_. But they were also invested in the idea of rescuing him, someone they’d been close to and worked with for years. They _want_ to think he’s changed, and that means their opinion can’t really be trusted. It’s like, uh, motivated reasoning. Or confirmation bias, or whatever.

And apologies don’t mean a damn thing. We’d love to believe that people can apologize and learn from the bad things they’ve done, but frankly? I don’t believe it. Apologies are made in order to stop being blamed for something, to try and get people to leave you alone. I have yet to meet with a truly sincere apology, and I don’t think Corridor’s is the first.

As for the fact that he switched back to the “good guys” almost immediately? That’s _actually_ the worst thing of all. Because he’s never been able to stay loyal to anyone! He betrayed his friends for a new set of allies, and _then he betrayed them too!_ Why does everyone think that’s somehow a good thing? Like, yeah, wow, he came back to the Defenders of the Light, but you know what? I might actually have a little respect for him if he’d switched sides and stayed.

It’s like… when you meet some hot girl, but she has a boyfriend. And she tells you that oh, she’d leave him for you, because you’re so great and she loves you so much. That happens? You RUN. Because if she’s going to leave Joe Rando for you, then she’s going to do the same damn thing to you as soon as someone better shows up. Just by making that offer, she’s proven she can’t ever be trusted!

This is the same thing. He “cheated on” the Defenders of the Light for The Bad Fairy, and then he “cheated on” her as soon as that didn’t seem to be working out so hot, and he crawled back to his ex.

And that isn’t even going into the fact that his power is literally working with darkness. Yeah, sure, allegedly powerset has nothing to do with morality, I know they’ve drummed that into us. But _really_?

So basically, yeah, I’m not impressed by Corridor. Some viewers have asked for my thoughts because I said in that year-end summary how sick of him I was, so there it is. I don’t like him.

It’s been six or seven years, and I don’t think that’s enough. Now there’s all this talk about some love triangle between him and Radiance—who was Starchild, just in case anyone’s forgotten that, like, he literally tried to kidnap her—and Keyblade. And I’m just… _tired._ I just wish Corridor would go away, and leave the rest of the Heroes alone.

* * *

The next day, the headlines were all focused on Corridor’s betrayal.

**Fool Me Twice**

_Yesterday’s events are sure to leave the Defenders of the Light, and indeed the entire city, reeling. The Heroes of our city have been fighting the mysterious extra-dimensional Organization for the last several weeks. The two groups have seemed mostly evenly matched, with few battles ending decisively for either side, but this time the Organization may have struck a blow that will be hard to recover from._

_Corridor, the shadow-door-manipulating “Hero,” has defected. Part-way through a battle between a small group of Organization members (“Axel,” “Larxene,” and “Lexaeus”) and a Defenders patrol (Corridor, Keyblade, and Radiance), Corridor switched sides, turning his back on his compatriots and going through the shadows with their enemies._

_Enemies of the Defenders of the Light; apparently no longer enemies of Corridor._

_It is impossible, of course, not to view this in light of the fact that this is not the first time Corridor has betrayed the Heroes. In the massive crossover event of several years ago, he famously worked for The Bad Fairy and her league of supervillains. Their plot to capture various magical heroines to utilize their powers was ultimately thwarted, and Corridor had an apparent change of heart._

_The Heroes credited in part to his return to the side of good years ago, Keyblade and Radiance (previously known by the codename Starchild), are the same two he betrayed this time. One wonders how they must feel about this turn of events._

_Much has been made in recent years of the apparent emerging love triangle between the three team members, who have kept up appearances of a close friendship since their teens. This either adds a new level of hurt to Corridor’s actions, or perhaps serves as an explanation._

_Time may tell. However, it certainly seems clear: once someone proves themselves willing and able to switch sides, it’s difficult to trust they won’t do so again._

-

That particular headline had already set the tone for the day, and the interviews that Radiance was now expected to give. Keyblade was next to her for most of them.

There had been mercenary interviews by news outlets looking for “unvarnished truth,” which really meant edgy and painful, digging for “how long had they known Corridor would do something like this?” and “how had they missed the signs?”

Then there were the softball morning talk show types who wanted the “human connection.” Those just wanted to probe for a different kind of pain, a shot of Radiance crying through deliberately tear-proof makeup, or Keyblade in uncharacteristically stoic contemplation, to tug at the heartstrings of all the fans at home.

Social media and the usual string of blogs had become entirely unbearable. Radiance had given them a glance out of long habit, and had to shut her laptop after only a couple minutes. There were fans _gloating_ about the whole thing, bragging how they’d never trusted Corridor, sharing links to editorial videos and op-eds from months ago to “prove” that they’d known it all along. Articles about how his powerset had been enough to prove he was evil, and awful crowing about how now he was out of the way, “Bladiance” could finally happen. It was all horrible.

Radiance supposed she should watch the interviews when they aired or made it to print. She’d been given the schedule. It would at least let her know what she’d said, since she barely remembered. By this point she’d assumed the shock would wear off, but it hadn’t. If anything, it had grown more all-consuming. She knew the right platitudes, and trusted herself not to have said anything she shouldn’t.

_No, we had no idea he was planning something like this._

_No, he hadn’t been acting odd. Everything seemed fine. We don’t know how long he’d been considering this._

_Of course we hold out hope that he’ll realize his mistake and come back to us._

_Yes, it hurts, but we have to believe there’s some reason for it. No, of course there’s no good or acceptable reason, but we’ve seen how good people can be manipulated into bad things many times before._

_Redemption is something the Defenders of the Light have always been passionate about._

_Please, Corridor, if you’re watching this, come back to us. If they’re forcing you to do this, let us help you._

All the right things to say, each as empty as the next.

-

Radiance ran her finger down the assignments posted in the main lobby at Headquarters. The LED screen always showed the most up-to-date assignments and team-ups, and whether they were assigned to early or late shifts for patrol.

Since the Organization had appeared, the active Heroes had been patrolling mainly in trios instead of pairs, or at least having a few pairs with a “floating third” switching between them. Most of the roster had been forced to deal with extra shifts, but that was to be expected during a crisis, even if they didn’t outright welcome it. But there had been twelve active Heroes (not counting the research-oriented support Heroes, The Scientist and Grimoire,) covering a lot of territory.

Radiance had put off checking the reassignments after… after Corridor. She and Keyblade had been given a couple days of recovery time, since the loss of a direct teammate was covered under the leave policy. That didn’t make those days exempt from the interviews, to the point that getting back on patrol would almost be a relief. And even if they had wanted more time away, they were down to eleven Heroes, and they couldn’t knock them down to nine.

Seeing her and Keyblade’s names next to someone other than Corridor was a bright twist of agony, despite having anticipated it. 

Monday:  
Keyblade, Radiance, Fire Dancer  
Thorn, Nymph, Lancer

Tuesday:  
Keyblade, Radiance, Thorn  
Lancer, Fire Dancer, Nocturne

Wednesday:  
Keyblade, Radiance, Lancer  
Thorn, Nymph, Nocturne

Thursday:  
Keyblade, Radiance, Nocturne  
Thorn, Nymph, Fire Dancer

Friday:  
Keyblade, Radiance, Nymph  
Fire Dancer, Nocturne, Lancer

Saturday:  
Lancer, Radiance, Nocturne  
Thorn, Nymph, Fire Dancer

Sunday:  
Keyblade, Nocturne, Lancer  
Thorn, Nymph, Fire Dancer

Radiance frowned. Each of them working six of the next seven days was fair enough, but there should have been _three_ teams assigned to every day. Not two. This only allowed for two shifts, meaning there couldn’t be overlap, and required each team cover the entire city. 

Her eyes flicked up to the top of the board. Heroes who were out of commission for injury were listed at the top. Had they missed something awful in the last couple days?

But the list at the top for “Heroes on leave” was blank. Her frown deepened: there were _not_ twelve names on that list. Trickshot, Stalwart, Lunar Phase, and Gambler were missing.

She revised the thought. Saying they were _missing_ sounded too serious. They were probably on some additional mission or something. Trickshot, Stalwart, and Gambler worked together often enough, so that would be plausible. Maybe Lunar Phase had gone with them for something. She’d ask Fire Dancer later; he could fill her in on anything else that had been going on. For now, she had to go, or she’d be late to meet up with her team.

-

Fire Dancer did _not_ have a good answer. When she asked, he just laughed. “I don’t make the schedules.”

“I’m not upset they aren’t scheduled,” she clarified, “I just want to know why. No one got hurt in the last couple of days?”

Fire Dancer shrugged. “You said they weren’t listed as injured, right?”

“I know we’ve been… busy the last couple of days,” Keyblade hesitated around what that really meant. _We’ve been in shock. We’ve been grieving. We’ve been totally useless and out of it and devastated._ Any of those would have been more accurate. “But we still would have seen if someone got hurt. Especially a whole team.”

“That’s why I don’t like it,” she said. “If anything, things are _worse_ now, so how can they just be gone with no explanation?”

Fire Dancer just shrugged again. “So we’ll just have to give those four hell for slacking off once they get back, yeah?”

Radiance nodded. She was too tired to argue.

It was later, after a patrol spent thwarting a perfectly ordinary mugger and a tiny group of Heartless, that she realized why the conversation had left her feeling even less at ease with the whole thing. Fire Dancer had always given every indication that he was good friends with Lunar Phase: the two teamed up more often than not, and seemed close. So why would he be so nonchalant about Lunar Phase being gone without notice?

Maybe she should find it comforting instead. Maybe Fire Dancer _did_ know it was nothing to worry about, and just couldn’t tell them for some reason. She tried to convince herself that that made more sense. She didn’t succeed.

-

A handful of days spent patrolling and only encountering the comparatively mundane was a strange kind of relaxing. Radiance was glad she hadn’t had a day off yet, because beating up Heartless or Nobodies (someone had started calling them “Dusks”, though she had no idea who) or thwarting petty criminals gave her something to focus on. She’d had years of practice compartmentalizing.

Having a rotating third in their party was a constant sore, a continual reminder every time she reconsidered a strategy to make use of a different power—fire, or rose vines, or today, vocally controlled water—instead of shadow doors. Not that flexibility in strategy was bad, but it shouldn’t have happened this way. Having Keyblade there, one constant thing, helped. He knew better than to baby her, letting her land punches and blinding flashes, getting scraped knees and bruises in return. He understood.

Worse, as she helped formulate strategies for different powersets, she was forced to confront just how similar the Defenders of the Light’s roster was to the enemies they were fighting. It wasn’t a one-to-one, and some of it could be explained fairly easily. For example, elemental control was proportionally common among the superpowered, so two red-headed fire-manipulators wasn’t totally out of the question. Hell, for all she knew, Fire Dancer dyed his hair to match his costume. And two electricity-manipulating women on mostly-male teams was just another coincidence. Sure.

She threw herself into long hours of small skirmishes with Heartless and Nobodies, and tried not to think about it. There wasn’t anything she could do about it, especially when the Heroes were so apparently understaffed, so she just did her job, and hoped their encounters with the Organization would stay rare.

It couldn’t last.

A harsh series of beeps in her ear, and then, “ _Organization members reported_ ,” the voice of their dispatch came through the earpiece. “ _Downtown, the banking district. Keyblade, Radiance, and Nocturne, please respond and neutralize the threat. Defend the Light._ ”

The others had gotten the same message. “Let’s go,” Keyblade said, more authoritative than usual.

Without Corridor, there was no instant way to get from one side of the city to the other, though fortunately they weren’t far from their destination.

They ran into a police perimeter a few blocks away. “Defenders,” an officer greeted them. “The area has been cleared of civilians, with an order to shelter in place for anyone who couldn’t get out. No direct threat to civilians, but we wanted to act with an abundance of caution.”

“Thank you,” Keyblade said. “We were told there were Organization members spotted. Any further details?”

Dispatch hadn’t elaborated beyond the basic order, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t additional information available. Someone from Headquarters should have it on camera, but the info wasn’t always instantaneously shared.

The officer shook his head. “Three to five sighted. N-not sure which ones.” His eyes cheated sideways, flicking back to both Keyblade and Radiance.

She should have known. Corridor was probably one of them. It had only been a matter of time.

A couple blocks of too-quiet streets, and they found the Organization members waiting for them, on rooftops to either side of the wide main thoroughfare. Five had been the correct number, assuming they were all in the open and visible.

Axel, again. The one with a keyblade, Roxas. Plus two that Keyblade and Radiance hadn’t faced yet, though she recognized them by description. The one with the eyepatch had to be Xigbar. The one that looked like a club promoter was Luxord. And the fifth one… she felt the knife twist. Corridor was dressed in their “uniform,” and had the same cold look as any of them.

Compartmentalize.

“You don’t belong here!” Keyblade said.

Axel waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, see, we like it here, it turns out. And we’d really like a chance to stay.”

“Maybe you should try not being bad guys, then. It’d be way easier if you just went home, called it a day…” Nocturne’s voice lilted a little. His lovely voice had never shown any genuine ability to control anything other than water, but he could be persuasive.

And a projectile of concentrated energy burned into the cement a few inches from his feet.

Xigbar grinned with too-sharp teeth. “I didn’t have to miss. How bad can we be if I give you a warning shot like that?”

That was the cue for everything to start. Nocturne hummed something under his breath, calling water from the containers he carried in his costume. The water from puddles and gutters, left over from morning irrigation or the last rainstorm, joined the water swirling around him.

Roxas made a reckless leap down from his second-story roof, keyblade drawn, and rushed at Keyblade, the nearly identical weapons clanging like swords.

Radiance made a quick hand signal for anyone on her team who was looking, a sharp gesture that told them she was going to call for backup. Of course, the signal itself was risky, since Corridor would know what it meant. 

She darted into a side alley, breaking line of sight for just a moment. She brushed her finger over her earpiece, telling it to transmit. Low, hopefully low enough that none of the Organization would hear— _and shit, what if Riku still had his mic and earphone? Had to risk it_ —Radiance said, “Nymph, Thorn, Fire Dancer. Backup to the banking district. Five Organization members. Repeat, backup to the banking district. Please hurry.”

She paused for a second to listen, but there was no reply on the channel. The other three were scheduled for the “later shift”, but they should still have started by now. “Dispatch?” she asked, after the silence had stretched too long.

“ _No backup available_ ,” the dispassionate voice said.

“What?” she snapped.

“ _No backup available_ ,” the dispatcher repeated.

Radiance didn’t say what she really wanted to, opting instead for, “ _Swell_ ,” said with as much venom as she could pack into the syllable.

She had to try and get up above street level. Five against three was bad. Five against three, with the five mostly taking the high ground, _and_ when one of the five was basically a sniper was even worse.

Of course the alley didn’t have any convenient fire escapes to give her easy access, or anything else she could hope to climb. She’d have to get back out to the main road, try to find a route to the roof of one of the other buildings.

Keyblade and Roxas were still keeping each other occupied. The two were evenly matched, which seemed worthy of concern.

Nocturne’s water was supporting him and lifting him up higher as he sang some wordless melody. Bits of the water surrounding him were also being diverted toward Axel, dousing his every attempt to conjure fire. Sometimes it resulted in steam, which would recondense back into water and return to Nocturne.

Searching the rooftops, Radiance saw Xigbar, aiming a stylized gun at her. She sent a flare of light along her skin and was gratified when he squinted his good eye closed in an involuntary wince.

One of the buildings about half a block down had an obvious stairway up to a higher level door. If she could make it there, she could get up to their level. She took off, letting her lights surround her, sparkling around her, breaking up her profile. Not good for hiding, but making it just a bit harder to see her clearly.

She heard a snap, and glanced up to see Luxord on the roof across the street from Xigbar, hand raised. There was no way she should have heard him snap his fingers, not from that distance, and yet…

She tripped.

She turned it into a roll, ignoring a scrape to her elbow, managing to twist so the spikes on her mask didn’t catch the ground, and got back to her feet. She made it to the stairs and bolted up them. She was hidden from view here, in between buildings, but once she reached the top of the stairs, she could jump to the neighboring roof, where Luxord, Axel, and Corridor had been the last time she’d looked.

She heard another snap, even more impossible now. She couldn’t even _see_ any of them from here. One of the stairs was inexplicably slick, her low-heeled boot slipping. She caught herself before she pitched backwards or over the railing, but she had to set her jaw against a cry of pain. Bringing herself down from the adrenaline spike of the near fall, she tested the step, and at least found that her ankle held her weight with only the most minor of complaints.

Up the rest of the stairs, and then she was close enough to jump and grab hold of the roof edge. She climbed onto the stair railing, maybe four feet below the neighboring roofline, and about five feet away. She crouched, making sure her balance was enough to give her the best leverage, and then she jumped. There was a split second of terror after she’d pushed off the railing and before the roof was near enough to grab when she thought she’d misjudged, that she was about to plummet down into the narrow alleyway… but then her fingers caught the roof edge.

She used her feet to catch enough of her weight against the wall that she didn’t slam into it, and then she pulled herself up before anyone had a chance to try and stop her. She rolled immediately away, on a diagonal away from the edge, in case anyone had a well-aimed blow ready for her, though it turned out to be unnecessary.

Axel was still held at bay by Nocturne. The distant clang of metal on metal told her where Roxas and Keyblade were. Corridor had vanished from the rooftop, leaving her one nearby target, Luxord, and he was looking right at her.

She kept moving, not wanting to give Xigbar any easy shots. She didn’t know exactly what being hit with one of those energy bolts would do, but she was fairly sure it would suck.

Clenching her hand and then flinging it outward, she threw a shower of sparks toward Luxord’s face, though infuriatingly he seemed to have shut his eyes at just the right moment that it didn’t blind him. She ran low, intending to rush him. He was bigger and taller than she was, but he didn’t appear to be armed, and she bet she had him beat for agility.

But as she got just close enough to lunge at him, he snapped his fingers and the gravel on the roof beneath her feet seemed to shift, and she slipped again. This time she didn’t catch herself, instead falling backward and landing hard on her hip.

“Did you fall again?” Luxord asked, note of sympathy in his voice at odds with a self-satisfied smile. “What are the odds?”

_Fuck. He must be playing around with probability, or something similar._ His powerset was one of the ones the Defenders of the Light still listed as ‘unknown’. She gritted her teeth and got to her feet. She rushed at him again, trying to stay as mindful as she could about where her feet were landing.

She’d talked to Gambler about his powers before, one of the Heroes currently unaccounted for. He didn’t _manipulate_ probability, per se, but he could _see_ it. According to him, there were so many factors that went into every action that it was almost impossible to have any certain outcome, even for things just a few seconds in the future. If that held true, then even if Luxord could alter the probability of some action occurring, like making her slip and fall, he could never make it absolute. So she’d just have to be careful.

This time she didn’t mysteriously step on a loose stone or slippery spot, though the punch she tried to land missed as he ducked sideways at the last moment.

She dodged back out of range in case he struck back directly, and approached for another strike. The pattern repeated, though she did manage one glancing blow when she kicked at his side, though it wasn’t enough to do any real damage. And at this pace, she’d definitely wear out faster.

In between their engagements, she saw Luxord snap his fingers, and Nocturne’s voice faltered, his water dropping him several feet before he got it back under control. Another time he snapped his fingers and she heard Keyblade cry out. So he wasn’t just focusing on her.

Their positions had changed enough that she saw Corridor was down at street level now, supporting Roxas against Keyblade. Radiance bit her lip so hard she tasted blood, and then resolutely forced her attention back to Luxord. If she could knock him out of the fight, the rest of them would _literally_ have better odds.

She readied for another rush forward, and heard the snap. This time she just tripped, over nothing as far as she could tell.

She barely caught herself, one knee crashing down before she pushed herself back to her feet. And then she realized her mistake. The way their positions had changed left her a perfectly wide open target for Xigbar. She tried to duck down, even knowing it was too late to get out of the way.

If it hadn’t been so familiar, she would have assumed the sudden drop in her stomach was her own realization that she was likely about to be in a lot of pain. But she knew exactly what the dark corridors felt like.

One opened, and she was immediately pulled through it, coming out another one and crashing backwards into a wall at street level. The wind was knocked out of her, and she slid down, trying to look at Corridor.

He’d just kept her from getting shot. But there was no kindness on his face as he looked down at her.

“Why can’t you just give up?”

“Never will,” she choked out, though she still hadn’t managed a full lungful of air. She hoped he knew she wasn’t talking about her mission as a Defender of the Light.

“You should.” His voice was cold.

Then he stepped back. “We have what we need!” he yelled. “Let’s go.”

Radiance tried to get her feet back under her, planning to… what, follow him?

“Figures,” Xigbar grumbled from the roof above them.

All five of the Organization members opened tears of their own and vanished.

-

Sora asked her to go somewhere with him afterward. After they’d made their reports, and gotten cleaned up. They’d visited Medical for treatment of their minor scrapes and bruises.

“Can we go somewhere tonight?” he asked. “I don’t know that either of us should be alone.”

She kissed him, hoping he would understand that her refusal wasn’t personal. She didn’t want to avoid him, or anything like that. But she _did_ want to be alone.

Now, standing in “their” apartment, Kairi wished she’d agreed with him. She had wanted time alone, to think, and to try and sort through what Corridor had done. But the appeal had worn off rather quickly, leaving her feeling empty. Maybe Sora had been right; she shouldn’t be by herself.

And then the guilty feeling, knowing that Sora had been asking for _himself_. _He_ was the one who didn’t want to be alone. She should have brought him with her.

This was the first time she’d been in the apartment since it had happened. It seemed wrong to be here, in the place she’d carved out for all three of them. That they’d all carved out. All of them had been here alone before, or in various pairs, but it was different now that Corridor was _gone_ like this.

Well, if she was going to spend an ill-advised evening alone, then she was going to lean in to being miserable. She’d be back to patrolling the next day, and back to compartmentalizing all of this. So for now, she’d just let herself feel awful.

She lay down in their bed, remembering the last time they’d been here together, all the mental snapshots she’d been trying to hold onto. And for the first time, she really worried that it might have been _the last._

The vertigo-dip of her stomach, even when she was lying down, could almost have been wishful thinking, but Kairi didn’t think her imagination was quite that good.

She got out of the bed and walked slowly down the short hall, moving as silently as years of training had allowed her to. She didn’t know for sure if she was hoping he was here, or hoping she’d imagined it after all.

Riku was standing across the living room from her, and she felt a rush of relief.

She couldn’t help it. She ran the last few steps between them, throwing her arms around him. “Riku!”

There were plenty of other things she wanted to say, gratitude that he’d saved her today, assurances that she believed he was still on their side…

But he didn’t hug her back. He was standing stiff, not moving at all.

She forced herself to let go, to step back. “Riku?”

“Kairi.” The look on his face was briefly conflicted, before it settled into cool disregard. And then something that looked more like anger. “You have to stop this. Give up!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt. You need to take Sora and go. Get out of here, out of the city.”

“Riku, _what are you talking about?_ ”

“What you’re doing isn’t right. What you’ve done to Naminé, to the rest of them…”

“I have no idea what you mean! What about Naminé?” Kairi felt herself sinking into a defensive posture. “We haven’t done anything. Who even _is_ Naminé, and why do you care so much about her?”

He shook his head. “You’re the last ones,” he said. “You’re strong, I always knew that. And despite everything, I don’t want you to get hurt, which is why I’m warning you. Go get Sora and leave. We’ll forget what you’ve done.”

“What _we’ve_ done? What about you?”

He just looked at her blankly. “I’ll still be here. But at least I’ll know the two of you are safe somewhere. Maybe the two of you will be able to find a fresh start.”

“Riku, this doesn’t make sense.”

He just shook his head. “They said you wouldn’t listen.”

“Who?”

“This is your last warning. If you don’t leave or you don’t surrender, it’s going to end badly. So please, just go.”

With that, he waved a hand, reopening his corridor, and he left.

Kairi sank to the living room floor and cried.

By the time she’d calmed down enough to even dig out her phone—the secret, private one—it was late, already after 11:00. She wanted to talk to Sora. And he had to know what Riku had said.

There was a text from Sora’s unlabeled number, from an hour before. _Love you. Goodnight._

She bit her lip and texted back: _Love you too._

She hesitated a moment, and then pushed the call button. He was probably already asleep.

Several rings, then: _“We’re sorry. The person you are trying to reach has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet…”_

Kairi hung up, and sent another text instead. _Call me when you wake up. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you._

And she climbed into a bed that was far too empty to be alone in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This concludes the chapters I am posting as part of the active Rogue Nebula event. Thank you again to all of my fellow participants and the mods of the event! It was a wonderful experience.  
> However, there are still 6 chapters to go! These will not be adhering to the event posting schedule, but will be coming soon!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things have changed.

* * *

_Excerpt from the cached version of a now-deleted blog post from blogger “dustinastorm”._

So, there was an interesting thread on a discussion board the other day about why anyone would choose to be a supervillain. Really, it started with the question “why would anyone decide to commit a crime when you know there’s a Superhero on patrol?” Some discussion later brought it around to Supervillains at least have an excuse because they could potentially win a fight against a Superhero. And _then_ the discussion turned to why anyone would choose to be a Supervillain.

Okay, but why would they?

There are a few theories. One is just that people with superpowers can decide to be criminals the same way people without powers do. Honestly, that’s the one that rings the most true for me. Some people are just going to take the shitty way out, y’know? If you can phase through walls, or hypnotize people into doing what you want, maybe robbing a bank seems like a really easy way to make a living.

Another theory is that it was inevitable as soon as we started having Superheroes. Most people who like this theory refer to it as filling a vacuum, and reaching equilibrium. That merely by having Superheroes, there _have_ to be Supervillains, because… honestly I don’t know. This one doesn’t make much sense to me. If it was inevitable just because some bad people got powers just like some good people did, then I’d get it, but that’s just rehashing theory one.

Theory three is maybe even more out there, and yet it makes more sense to me than theory two. And that comes around to the age-old stoner-faux-philosophy debate of “like, who decides who’s a villain, man?” But really… how much of our definition of Hero vs. Villain is in the branding? At least a few people have pointed out that we don’t really have many “freelance” Heroes anymore. Honestly, the old Defenders of the Light, before it was the kind of corporate entity it is now, were almost the closest thing we had.

There’s sort of a sliding scale from good to bad that goes: Hero - Antihero - Vigilante - Villain.

Heroes, and even the sort-of antiheroes like Corridor, are almost always part of one of the big organizations. The biggest one regionally is the Defenders of the Light, of course, but then there’s the more widespread “League of Princesses” that encompasses a large number of heroines over the entire country. 

Vigilantes, like the former and founding members of the Defenders of the Light, are independent, but are regarded as being barely above outright villainy… despite the fact they are pretty much completely retired, and were genuinely heroes for years.

So why is it that when Heroes leave an organization they seem automatically to be shuffled out of the Hero box, regardless of whether their actual actions have changed?

And back to that question for everyone who took a class on moral relativism: Who defines villainy?

* * *

When Kairi woke up, still in the apartment, Sora hadn’t replied. That was unlike him, though there were plenty of potential explanations. Maybe something had compromised his phone, or he’d felt it was unsafe to reply. Maybe he’d just overslept. Maybe the phone had fallen behind his dresser and he forgot to fish it out. She hoped he wasn’t upset that she’d wanted to be alone the previous night. She should have stayed with him.

She’d apologize when they met up to patrol. And she’d make sure to be a better girlfriend. They were both reeling over things with Riku; it wasn’t fair for her to leave him alone, too. Plus, he needed to know what Riku had said to her, even if it still didn’t make sense.

She couldn’t dwell on it right now. _Compartmentalize._

Kairi changed into a clean uniform, applied her standard makeup, and settled her mask into place.

Radiance hadn’t been looking forward to this particular team-up. She was with Keyblade, like just about every day, but their third party member was Nymph. Radiance didn’t really want to put up with stinging comments all afternoon, not when she already felt on the edge of breaking down.

Though she was probably being uncharitable. The two of them had never gotten along—and she well knew that the media and their merchandising efforts were largely to blame for that—but Nymph was a _good_ Hero. They didn’t have to be best friends to patrol together.

She made her exit carefully out the back of the building, following a path they’d verified was free of surveillance cameras.

-

No one was there. She’d double checked the location they were set to patrol from, and their start time, and neither Keyblade nor Nymph was there.

She tapped her earphone. “Hey, Keyblade? Nymph? Come in. Where are you?”

The silent pressure of dead air. Not static, or the nothing of _no_ connection, just silence being transmitted.

“Dispatch?”

She waited. Nothing.

Radiance frowned, and the little flutter of nerves over Sora not replying to her texts upgraded itself to full on panic.

She tried the radio again, and when that remained silent, she tried to call both of them from her official Defenders of the Light-sanctioned cell phone. No answer from Keyblade or from Nymph. Or from Fire Dancer or Nocturne when she tried them.

Her stomach sank even further somehow when she recalled the impersonal message from Dispatch the day before: “No backup available.”

She had to go to Sora’s apartment, but she couldn’t go as Radiance. There was no easy route that took her to her official residence and then to his, and now that she was genuinely worried about it, she hated to take so much time. But she couldn’t potentially compromise Sora’s identity. She’d just have to be as quick as she could.

-

Not quick enough. 

She went up the stairs to her small, stand-alone apartment, behind her parents’ house. The door swung open as soon as she touched the knob. Even if she’d somehow been stupid enough to leave it unlocked, there was no way it wouldn’t be _latched_. Even her parents didn’t have a key, and anyway, they were on a trip for the next week.

She settled into a more ready stance and paused, listening. No sounds from inside, though a quick glance revealed the door had swung open because the area in the frame around the lock had been smashed in.

A quick horizontal slash with her hand sent clusters of sparks ahead of her, flickering over her room, lighting up the scattered papers, overturned chair, stripped bedding…

It looked like a simple burglary, maybe. She didn’t keep anything with much monetary value, but this was a slightly easier target than her parents’ house, with its alarm system and visibility from the road. _But you considered something to be a mundane break-in before, didn’t you? When you saw Naminé?_

But maybe that was another point in favor of it being a coincidental break-in. Naminé had just appeared in her room. These were enemies that could open passageways through space if they wanted to get in somewhere; there was no reason for them to break in a door.

_Unless it’s not supposed to look like they did it. …Or maybe you’ve taken over Riku’s role as the paranoid one._

Another cursory look over the room didn’t reveal anything else obvious about the culprits, and she couldn’t afford to spend too much time on it right now.

She picked up some clothing that had been tossed to the floor, and hoped she wasn’t destroying evidence by putting it on. She thought about leaving her costume there, but reconsidered, rolling it as tightly as possible and putting it in her bag.

A quick swipe of a makeup removing cloth, and then a very cursory job of the softer makeup she used when she wasn’t in costume was a work of a couple minutes. It was a couple minutes she still didn’t want to spend, but she had to keep up the divide between Radiance and Kairi.

If it had been a burglary, there was at least a slight possibility that her identity had been compromised, assuming the would-be thieves had seen her spare costumes. Kairi could probably go on the local news and play up the tee-hee local politician’s pretty daughter role, acting baffled that someone would make such a big deal over her Halloween costume. Wouldn’t remove all suspicion, considering it was already more than a fringe-theory that Kairi Uchida was the one behind Radiance’s mask.

But if that became necessary, she’d worry about it later. She had to get to Sora.

-

At least Kairi had a car, cutting the interminable journey from her apartment to Sora’s down to fifteen minutes in traffic. She parked in one of the guest spots, and ran across the lot and up the stairs to his door.

It didn’t swing in when she knocked on it, and she felt a breath of relief. She knocked again, more forcefully. “Sora?”

Reaching for the handle, just to try it, the brief flare of relief faded as the knob turned.

If it looked like her apartment had been tossed, it looked like someone had tried to _destroy_ Sora’s.

His furniture was overturned, and in some cases smashed. Textbooks, clothing, and bedding were strewn around the room, along with every other personal item he had. A broken terra cotta pot sat in the middle of a small sea of potting soil and torn leaves. DVD and video game cases had avalanched onto the floor from a knocked over shelf. Plates and glasses were scattered in the small kitchen, most broken.

“Sora!”

She hadn’t expected an answer, and she didn’t get one.

It took a few minutes to check all of the larger piles and falls of wreckage, but at least she could be satisfied that there was no body. No blood either, though she’d be willing to bet the next quarter’s merchandising revenue that some of the damage had been from the keyblade. It had a particular way of smashing through things, in between what you’d expect from a sword and a club. But which keyblade?

There was no ransom note, or other explanation.

Kairi bit down on her lip and tasted blood. There was no way it was a coincidence that both her apartment and Sora’s had been broken into overnight. But there was only one other person who knew where Sora lived, who knew his identity as Keyblade. Her jaw hardened.

So Riku really wasn’t on their side anymore.

-

Kairi wasn’t familiar with walking into a police station as a civilian. She’d filled out reports in the field, and occasionally had come to the station as Radiance in order to ID a suspect or give additional information when needed. Truthfully, she’d rather not even be here like this now, but there had still been no answer on her radio or cell. It would have been difficult to get help from the Defenders of the Light without compromising Sora’s identity anyway, so the mundane police were her best option.

The Heroes and the police had a sometimes tense relationship. Historically, the Defenders of the Light had been a group formed partially in response to the corruption within law enforcement. That was nearly two decades in the past, and things had improved since then, but the divide was still there. The more modern Defenders of the Light hadn’t really helped, refusing to broadly share surveillance data and such, but at least they were all comfortably on the same side.

Or at least that had always been Kairi’s impression.

The carefully bland expression on the officer’s face when Kairi approached the desk wasn’t encouraging. She thought she’d met the man before, maybe in passing or handing someone she’d apprehended over, but she couldn’t remember his name.

Her first inclination was to turn on the charm, to give a win-them-over bright smile, because that was what Radiance was supposed to do. But Kairi was still fighting back panic that wanted to erupt as either a scream or a sob, and she did not have the energy for a public performance. If she tried to flash a grin, it would probably be a grimace at best.

So instead she gave a tight smile of acknowledgement, and sat in the chair across from the officer’s desk. “I need to report a break-in. Two, actually. And a missing person's report.”

His lip twitched, like he was suppressing a sneer. With painful slowness, he opened his notebook and selected a pen from the cup at the edge of the desk. He stared at her a moment before making an impatient ‘well, get on with it’ gesture with the hand holding the pen.

Her own expression cooled even more, and she fell into the dry, detached tone she used for reports. “My personal residence as well as a friend’s apartment.” She rattled off the addresses, but the officer didn’t write them down. “The friend whose apartment was broken into, Sora Irino, may be missing. I haven’t heard from him since yesterday, he missed an appointment today, and there were signs of a struggle in his home.”

The officer’s pen still hadn’t moved, and the blank look on his face had shifted from carefully neutral to some mix of bored and antagonistic.

“Excuse me,” Kairi said, struggling to keep her voice level. “But is this information somehow unimportant?”

“Just not sure why you’re coming to us with this is all.”

“Break-ins and missing persons are part of your _job_.” She didn’t even try to stifle her incredulity.

He gave a sharp exhale, almost a snort.

She barely knew how to respond. “My name is Kairi Uchida, codename Radiance. This identity is on file with the city—”

“I know who you are.”

That was likely. Like she’d said, her Heroic and civilian identities were on file with the city and local authorities, even if they weren’t publicly linked. That had been one of the shows of good faith from the Defenders of the Light, sharing known Heroic identities. And even if someone hadn’t memorized all the Heroes’ identities, the fact she was also the mayor’s daughter probably made hers stand out.

“I don’t know why you’re _here_ ,” he continued.

“This is your _job,_ ” she repeated.

The officer sighed, and tapped the pen against the notebook. “If someone found out your identity, and decided to do something about it, frankly you brought it on yourself. And the same is probably true for your ‘friend.’”

Kairi jerked back in the chair. The light she’d been suppressing flickered forward, reacting even though she was momentarily unable to.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat?”

With some effort, she dampened the shimmers of light, though they were still visible. “What is your name?”

“Why would I give you that information? Going to come after me once my shift is over?”

“I’m going to report you for completely inappropriate behavior.” It sounded weak even to her. Threatening to tattle.

“Ha!” The bark of laughter had no real humor in it. “And who would take that report seriously? I think I’ve been more than civil. We aren’t in the business of helping _villains_.”

Her skin prickled cold and she began to shed sparks in distress. “What?” was the only word she could force through numb lips.

“I may not have anything I can arrest you for right now, Radiance. But maybe you should go before I really try to dig for something.”

And Kairi did one of the things she’d most tried to avoid in her life as a costumed Hero. She fled.

-

Kairi fled the police station, but she had nowhere to run to. Her “official” apartment was clearly unsafe, and if Riku had betrayed Sora’s location, their unofficial apartment was equally compromised. She didn’t even dare go get any of her things right now.

Another attempt to reach anyone from the Defenders of the Light met with the same lack of response. And insult on top of injury, her phone started giving her a low battery warning.

She needed a computer, and unable to access her own, she drove to the city library.

It was impossible not to think about the strange maybe-remembered library from the dimension they’d been pulled into. There wasn’t much overtly similar beyond containing books. The public library was bigger and well-lit, built along clean lines and not set up like a maze. Kairi went straight to a computer, and logged onto the guest account.

The first site she tried to go to, one of the news and op-ed sites devoted to the Defenders of the Light, spit back a 404 error. So did one of her favorites of the large Hero-focused sites. And while the forum site she sometimes lurked on was there, the board devoted to the Defenders of the Light was gone.

She tried to ignore the insistent prickle creeping up her spine, telling her that everything was even worse than she’d thought. She did a general search for Hero-related news.

The first headline and summary sent that prickle into overdrive, adding a hollow feeling that made her want to throw up.

_“ Traitors to the Light near Defeat!_

_The Organization seems poised to finally defeat the city’s vigilantes-turned-supervillains. Current reports state that almost all of the Villains have been apprehended and taken to a secure location within the Organization’s stronghold_.”

And from the previous day:

“ _Organization Heroes Win Decisive Victory_

_Heavy fighting in the streets this afternoon, as Organization members Saix, Xaldin, and Demyx clashed with Supervillains Thorn, Nymph, and Fire Dancer. Fortunately, our Heroes were victorious, and the three Villains were taken into custody._ ”

Kairi felt the blood draining from her face. Thorn, Nymph, and Fire Dancer were the other team on patrol the day before. _“No backup available.”_ Had whatever _this_ was already started then?

Scrolling just a bit farther down the page:

“ _Xehanort Makes Statement About Organization ”_

She hurriedly clicked. Disappointingly, it was just a short quote and a photo that looked like it had been taken at a press conference. The kind of blinding rage that made her want to punch something quickly replaced that disappointment.

“ _Xehanort, once a member of the disgraced villain group Defenders of the Light, has been reluctant to speak openly about that history. But today, he finally gave a statement confirming his new role as director of the Organization._

_“‘It’s regrettable what the group I poured my heart and soul into for so much of my life has now become. I’d hoped to salvage it, to direct and refine its potential into a team that we could all believe in. But I merely slowed its demise. As painful as that is, I’m proud to have found a team that_ can _genuinely live up to the potential I’ve always seen. The Organization will be the Heroes we’ve always known should be protecting us, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to direct this new team.’”_

Kairi was halfway out of her chair, ready to go find something to hit—hopefully Xehanort, but any member of the Organization would do—when it occurred to her that there was one more thing she should search. She was almost afraid to, but she modified her search to include Corridor by name. Her fingers clenched on the mouse as she clicked the first result:

_“ Ex-Vigilante Corridor Joins Organization: ‘I was ready to be a Hero again.’”_

It was a video, one of those awful morning talk-show segments, listed as having aired that morning. Kairi searched and found the headphones for the computer station. She put on the cheap over-ear phones and hit play.

The host started her introduction. “Corridor is a figure with a complicated past. A Hero from his early teens, he then had a brief stint as part of a team of Villains, a time period he has always maintained that he deeply regrets. At the time, his return to the side of good was facilitated by two long-term friends, Keyblade and Radiance, both members of Corridor’s previous Hero team.”

She paused for dramatic effect before continuing, “Unfortunately, it couldn’t last. The so-called ‘Defenders of the Light’ started down the same dark path as the original founders of the organization, sliding into vigilantism and extreme methods. And Corridor says that he just couldn’t be a part of it anymore.”

The camera panned over, and there he was, sitting in the guest chair, dressed in an Organization coat and a simple black mask.

“Corridor, thank you for coming on and speaking with us today.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“Now, I’m sure this couldn’t have been an easy decision for you to make. Was there something that finally pushed you into it?”

“It wasn’t easy. But, well, I was ready to be a Hero again. I saw the things the Defenders had been doing, the way they’d hurt people I cared about, and I just had to get out.”

“Perhaps we should address the elephant in the room: a video was leaked of you and the vigilante Keyblade attacking members of the Organization, and apparently killing two of them. This shocking video horrified everyone when it came to light.” She shifted her focus from Corridor to the camera. “We’ll play a clip of it for any of our viewers who haven’t seen it, but be advised that it may be disturbing.”

And there it was. A merciless clip of the fight they’d been so thankful hadn’t been on film. Apparently it had been. There was no sound, but the video clearly showed Corridor striking Zexion, the shadows bleeding out of his head, his body dissolving to nothing. And the keyblade colliding with Vexen, him vanishing in that dry-ice type fog.

The video cut back to the studio.

Corridor looked down, a specific expression of sincere sorrow that Kairi _knew_ was practiced, because she’d taken the same damn lessons. “That was far from my proudest moment,” he said gravely. “At the time, it felt like a life-or-death scenario; I had to defend my teammates, and that was all I intended to do. While I don’t regret my loyalty to my team, I do regret that I had been misled into believing we should fight the Organization.”

“And the Organization has still welcomed you to their side, despite what happened?”

“They’ve been very understanding. They are the good guys.”

Kairi thought she really might throw up.

“Going back to what you said about loyalty,” the host asked, leaning forward, giving the illusion of this being personal instead of very much for public consumption, “Your ex-teammates, Keyblade and Radiance. You’ve been close for a long time, just over a decade. There’ve even been rumors about romantic entanglements. While I won’t ask you to address those rumors, I do want to ask: how hard was it to leave them behind, and is there anything you’d like to say to them?”

Kairi blinked back the sting of tears. It had been more than a decade. Closer to two since they’d become friends, but only a decade since all three of them had been codified Heroes.

“Leaving them behind is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I care about them, and I love them both so much.”

It almost hurt more to finally hear that public admission now, when it was held at a distance, tinged with regret.

“But Keyblade, Radiance…” he was addressing them now, or was at least pretending to. Kairi wondered how genuine that was.

“What the Defenders of the Light have become isn’t right. I know that both of you started out as Heroes, and have only been doing what you think is best for the city, and for the world. But please, I beg you to look at what’s been happening, the people the Defenders of the Light have hurt. It’s become self-serving, not for the good of everyone, not anymore. So if either of you are watching this, I implore you… turn yourselves in. The Organization welcomed me, and I know they’ll help you, too. I don’t want to see either of you hurt.” His voice dripped tormented sincerity.

Kairi frowned. Corridor’s hand was moving. It looked like a mindless fidget, but Corridor never fidgeted.

She slid the slider on the video back, to the part where he said “—if either of you are watching this, I implore you…” and then focused on his left hand, just in frame. The first two fingers were straight but relaxed, the last two partially curled. And he tapped the extended fingers sideways into his knee. Two taps, a pause, two more taps. It repeated all the way through the rest of his statement.

The signal they used for “Run.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi tries to formulate a plan.

* * *

_The following is from the cached version of a blog post by a blogger known as “SoundofLight”. The original has been deleted_.

**The Script Theory: Part 2**

So last time, I explained the basics of The Script Theory and roughly what that is, and why people might believe it. Lots of people weighed in, whether they believed in it or not, and there were a lot of interesting questions and discussions. Please go check it out if you haven’t!

One of the things a lot of people have said about this theory is… well, so what? Does it really matter if there really is a “script” that all of these interactions follow? It may be a bit _misleading_ to have Heroes and Villains doing things according to a script, but is it really _wrong_? In my post I even said that Heroes were a kind of celebrity/reality TV star/social media influencer mash-up, and no one thinks that any of those things are completely genuine and unfiltered.

Largely, it comes down to corporate interest and profit. The Defenders of the Light and the Heroes they employ are supposed to function for the public good, yet are a private force. _If_ The Script Theory is true, then it’s irresponsible to have Heroes that are supposed to help people, but are really just acting. Or worse, Heroes who don’t even know they’re acting.

And regardless of whether or not the whole Script Theory is true or not, there _are_ legitimate critiques of an individual corporation having a stake in a Hero group.

The mundane authorities would probably give up a shocking portion of their operating budget for the kind of surveillance and technology that the Defenders of the Light have. That’s been at the center of multiple legal cases, but as of yet the Defenders of the Light cannot be required to broadly share their footage, even if it may show the commission of a crime. Police can request specific footage, but those requests have to go through an approval process.

The reasoning so far has _not_ been about potential invasion of privacy, but has been that the Defenders of the Light’s surveillance system is a proprietary part of their business. They’ve argued that forcing them to share it would place undue strain on their ability to maintain exclusive rights to the footage, and this could negatively impact their business.

If they’re so protective of what they consider their property, for fear that it would hurt their bottom line, then what else could that say about them? What else will they prevent their Heroes from doing simply because it isn’t profitable?

* * *

Kairi counted her breaths, waiting for her heart to stop trying to batter its way out of her ribcage.

_Run._

Corridor had said as much to her when he confronted her in the apartment. That she and Sora needed to run away, along with the then-mystifying comment about getting “a fresh start.”

And now he had gone on television, verbally telling both of them to turn themselves in, but signaling them to run instead.

What the hell could that possibly mean? He betrayed them, yet was trying to warn them. _And he saved me during that last fight, even if he did frame it as another attack_.

“Talk about mixed signals,” she half-joked to herself, but it just made the hollow feeling in her chest expand.

Before she relinquished her borrowed computer, she did a quick search for Keyblade’s name in the news, to see if there was any information about him being captured. Other than a few mentions in articles about other things—Corridor’s allegiance change, thinkpieces bemoaning the Defenders of the Light falling from grace, a profile on Roxas and his weapon of choice—there was nothing.

She’d seen enough at this point. Sure, she could do a deep dive into the blogs and the op-ed pieces and the forum chatter. She could spend forever trying to tease out the nuances of public opinion, to figure out exactly where the divergence had happened; she’d certainly had life-long practice interpreting media coverage and internet mentions. But she didn’t _have_ forever.

Kairi logged out, grabbed her bag, and left the library.

This whole… _thing_ , this suddenly-being-the-villain thing, could be a mass-illusion, mass-hallucination, alternate dimension, or alternate timeline. Given the recent emphasis on a dimensional collision, that seemed most likely, but any of them were plausible. It was outside of her skillset to determine which.

_Or_ you’re _the anomaly_ , came the poisonous whisper in the back of her head.

She shook it away. ‘Don’t doubt yourself’ was the first lesson they had drilled into them when they learned about the possibility of being trapped in alternate dimensions. She knew her own past. She _did._

_So maybe you’ve just come home_ , was the next sly suggestion.

She shook that one away, too. She didn’t know what her dimension of origin was like: maybe she could have been a villain there. But that wasn’t _home_. Her _home_ dimension was the one she’d grown up in, where she had become Starchild and Radiance, where she planned for a future with Keyblade and Corridor. Sora and Riku. And _if_ this wasn’t her real home, she was going to get back there. And if this was an altered version of her real home, she was going to fix it.

Kairi didn’t have much of a lead, except that other than Corridor, only one member of the Defenders of the Light seemed to have escaped the public perception of villainy. Worse, he seemed to be trading on their “fall” to bolster a position with the Organization.

Maybe he had an explanation. Maybe he could help sort this all out. As much as Kairi would once have believed that wholeheartedly, she found that now she deeply doubted it.

But she was ready to hit something, and if that something could be Xehanort, she was just fine with that.

-

Kairi hadn’t been sure what she’d find going to Headquarters. She doubted Xehanort would be there, but it was the best place to search for a way to find him. She parked a couple blocks away from the building, hopefully distant enough not to draw attention, and approached on foot.

The building was completely closed off, defaced with graffiti. “Villains” and “Murderers” stood out prominently, as did “No room for Vigilantes.” Another phrase that showed up in a couple spots was “Light Expires.” She shivered.

Broken glass and trash littered the ground, and it looked like people had thrown bottles at the building. It wasn’t terribly surprising, considering what people apparently thought of the Defenders of the Light, but it was still a shock to see. Especially for it to have happened literally overnight.

She prowled around the building, the glass crunching under her feet. She would have felt better in her costume. She may not love it, but at least it was armor of a sort, and would have felt less vulnerable than jeans and a t-shirt. She was smart enough not to dress as a known supervillain, so her costume was tucked into the trunk of her car. She still didn’t like it.

The windows and doors were all in lockdown mode, steel shutters creating what was supposedly an impenetrable second wall. Despite the vandalism, no one seemed to have broken in. A mixed blessing: it didn’t help _her_ get in, but it meant anything left inside was more likely to be undisturbed. Kairi made it to the back of the building, looked around for any potential witnesses, and not finding any, began to plan a route to the second story. Those windows were bolted over too, but maybe…

She was just sizing up the jump necessary to grab the very small sill below one of those second-floor windows, when it occurred to her that maybe there was a better route.

There _was_ the emergency entrance and exit. An apparently unrelated maintenance shed attached to a completely different building about a block away connected to a tunnel to the basement of the Headquarters building. It was rare, but every once in a while a Hero had to be able to come and go without risking a camera spotting them. Radiance had never had a reason to use it, since Corridor was a more effective “secret passage.”

She pushed the twinge away.

Xehanort knew about the tunnel, of course, but she crossed her fingers and hoped that maybe it wouldn’t have gone into a lockdown as extensive as the main building. Hard to build security of that caliber into something that was supposed to remain inconspicuous. And it was also intended to provide a last-ditch escape if something happened inside.

That block-long walk to the shed was more nerve-racking than it should have been, as Kairi resisted the urge to hunch over and sneak the whole way, which would have drawn more attention. But her hopes were actually answered for once. The maintenance shed, despite being marked with every kind of threatening warning sign about voltage and caustic chemicals, was only locked with a padlock.

Kairi didn’t have the key, but she did have a pocketknife with a screwdriver in her bag, and that easily removed the depressingly unprofessional hasp the padlock was hooked through.

Inside the shed was dusty and dim, even more so when she closed the door behind her. Straight ahead was a second door. It opened onto a very small closet, lined with shelves holding a disgusting array of filthy, rusted cans and bottles of mystery substances. The floor was caked with dirt and the spilled remains of who-knew-what. It looked like you’d probably catch some horrible flesh-eating disease if you so much as touched it.

Perfect camouflage. Kairi found the slight lip at the front of the closet floor with her shoe, and pushed. The “floor” slid back into the wall, revealing a hole straight down.

With a brief surge of gratitude that her powerset was what it was, Kairi flicked a ball of light down before her, and leapt down.

Loath as she was to leave herself without an easy exit, she slid the false floor back across the opening, just in case someone tried to follow her, or accidentally stumbled upon the shed. And then she marched down the hallway toward the Headquarters building, her lights bobbing around and in front of her to show the way.

-

She’d been afraid the lockdown would have sealed the interior door at the end of the tunnel, but it hadn’t. It looked like it was _supposed_ to, but it had failed, and the steel shutters only extended a couple inches out, leaving the door accessible. That was probably the kind of design flaw she should report to a superior, which gave her a flicker of mean amusement.

Inside the Headquarters building, everything was on backup power. Dim emergency lights and occasional lit screens lent an entirely different ambiance than the usual sterile fluorescents. Quiet. Creepy.

The basement was where the labs were located, somewhere Radiance rarely had cause to venture. The Scientist and Grimoire and their assistants were the only ones who usually used this space, doing research and conducting experiments, whatever that really meant.

At first glance, Kairi wondered if maybe someone _had_ managed to get in to ransack the place. Desks and shelves had been shifted, computers and other equipment clearly missing, papers scattered. But aside from some of the places where it looked like stacks of printouts had been knocked over, it looked more deliberate than a break-in would have. Maybe like someone was moving out in a hurry.

Getting here had been as far as her plan extended, and now she wasn’t sure what to look for. There could be something worthwhile in the scattered papers, or it could all be incomprehensible lab notes, and it would take her a long time to find out which. She’d make a complete sweep of the building and then reassess.

As she headed toward the stairs—elevators wouldn’t run on backup power—she heard a noise behind her. Kind of like a pot of water boiling in the next room.

She flicked her fingers, collecting the light into a glowing ball at her palm and spun, flinging the light ahead of her. It hit the Shadow that had bubbled its way out of the ground and dissolved it.

It was almost insulting for Heartless to be appearing in _their Headquarters_. Though of course it wasn’t surprising; the Heartless liked dark, quiet spaces and ambushing single victims when possible. And they had no awareness of territory, just of ideal habitats.

The single Shadow was not replaced by more, so she continued on.

The hallway of the main level was similarly dim, lit by the lower wattage emergency lights, the few external windows covered over by the shutters.

This was the most “public” area of the building, though that was a relative term, and Kairi didn’t expect to find much. She made a quick tour of the lobby—the assignment screen on, but blank—, the empty ballroom where the media event had been held, the currently-disabled arena and viewing decks, the training rooms… Everything was quiet and still and empty.

The second floor was where most meaningful records would have been kept, in medical and administrative offices, and she ascended the stairs cautiously. That caution paid off as she heard the light, whispery flutter of one of the Dusks.

Crouching low, trying to avoid detection by whatever means these Nobodies used, she glanced around the corner of the stairwell. The Dusk drifted past, down the middle of the exterior hall, and turned to go down one of the central hallways. Like it was patrolling.

Why couldn’t it have been more Heartless? Kairi dug the pocketknife back out of her bag, unfolding the small blade. It wasn’t much, but it was better than her bare hands.

She headed for Xehanort’s office. He was the only one who seemed likely to know what had happened, so if his office had anything left in it…

The Dusk was between her and Xehanort’s office door. Decoys had worked against the Nobodies before, so she sent a flare of light to the other end of the hall. When the Dusk started to drift that direction, she rushed up behind it, grabbed on, and reached around to stab with the tiny blade of her knife.

It cut easily enough, though it wasn’t a one-hit kill. The Dusk twisted, folding in on itself in a disturbingly inorganic way, then lunged at her, sharpened limb aimed for her stomach.

Kairi twisted, and the Nobody sliced along her side instead of stabbing into her belly. She ignored the sharp pain and delivered a slicing strike of her own as its momentum carried it past her. Another quick spin to follow it and a downward stabbing motion before it could turn back to face her, and the thing faded away, scraps of white material and black smoke drifting into nothing.

The scratch on her side was minor. Painful, bleeding, but shallow. She ignored Xehanort’s office door long enough to get to the medical offices, familiar enough with the exam room layout to find the gauze and bandages. Wound dressing wasn’t her favorite skill, but it was one she was proficient at. It didn’t do anything for the blood on her shirt though, which could be a problem once she was back in public.

She used the detour to the medical offices as a chance to search them, but they’d been cleared out even more thoroughly than the labs downstairs. The supplies were still there, but the computers from the small reception area and the nurses’ and therapists’ offices were gone. So were the tablets the nurses carried with them. There weren’t any file cabinets or other places for physical files to have been kept, and a quick check of the desk drawers revealed only office supplies and mundane items like snacks and books.

One of the nurses apparently really liked fruit snacks and cheesy superhero romance novels. Kairi rolled her eyes at _Unmasked Desire_ , which purported to be a whirlwind romantic thriller about a couple who were attempting to hide their superheroic identities from each other, not realizing that they were actually part of the same hero team.

The most useful thing she found was someone’s sweater left over the back of a desk chair, which didn’t look great with Kairi’s outfit, but at least covered up the bloodstains. Shrugging it on, she headed back down the hallway.

The medical offices had been her backup plan if Xehanort’s office had been completely cleared out, so having to strike it off her list wasn’t encouraging. If his offices were as thoroughly empty, she wasn’t sure what she’d do.

They were.

His computer was gone, and the drawers of his desk had been emptied of everything, not so much as a scrap of paper or a stray paperclip left behind.

_“Fuck.”_ At least she could swear.

Without much hope, she started to poke through the other administrative offices. They were almost as empty, computers obviously removed recently from desks, drawers emptied of files. But in the third office, she did find something.

The office had a sliding closet door along one wall, covering over shelves containing mostly office supplies. Reams of paper, industrial quantities of staples, boxes of pens, mystery spare cords. But on one of the lower shelves was a laptop bag.

Kairi’s hand almost shook as she grabbed it. It was probably just some spare thing that had been wiped of data, waiting to be given to a new employee who needed it, but…

She pulled the thin computer out of the bag. It was labeled with a yellow sticky note.

_Even’s personal laptop_  
_Confiscated 06.28_  
_Password: C0nnecT!on_

She wasn’t sure who Even was. Maybe a lab assistant? According to this they’d taken his laptop a couple of weeks ago. Kairi opened the computer and entered the password from the note. It worked.

She selected a file at random, one called “Active” from the recent files list. It pulled up on the screen, and she started to skim.

It looked like a list of the active Defenders of the Light Heroes, with the basic dossiers that would be shared on their website, and she almost closed it. But reading through, she realized it was more than that.

_“Lancer_

_An “elemental” Hero, he controls air currents, and is able to use control over wind to grant himself limited flight._

_Civilian identity: Dilan Akimoto…”_

It _was_ the dossiers for the active Heroes… but included information that was supposed to be _heavily_ guarded. Only the Organization higher ups and law enforcement were supposed to know Hero identities, _if_ they were known at all.

This “Even” clearly had a lot more information than she could have hoped. She saw why as she continued scrolling.

_“The Scientist_

_An “enhanced ability” Hero, he has a superhuman ability to view connections between data points._

_Civilian identity: Even Nozawa…”_

They’d confiscated _The Scientist’s_ personal computer? Kairi closed the file. She felt… wrong, reading it. Other Heroes’ identities were meant to be secret, and it felt invasive and almost voyeuristic to be learning them. The file was probably useful, and she’d come back to it, but for now she’d see what else was on this computer.

There was a folder labeled “Potentials Project” on the desktop, which among other files had subfolders for each of the active Heroes. She tried to open the folder labeled “Radiance,” but it requested a password. She tried the same password that had unlocked the laptop, but it didn’t work. She met with the same result for the other folders, named for other Heroes on the roster. She didn’t even consider trying random combinations. For all she knew a certain number of failed attempts could permanently lock the files, or erase them, or who knew what.

Kairi regretted that she wasn’t more tech savvy. The most she’d done was help maintain the “secret” tech that let her, Keyblade, and Corridor listen in on each other, and that had been set up before her time as a Hero. It was a far cry from breaking into locked files.

But this was her best lead. Maybe it would turn out to be nothing, but she didn’t think that was the case. The Scientist had been one of the Heroes in charge of ongoing studies. If a document that included the most highly secret information the Defenders of the Light had—the civilian identities of the Heroes, including his own—was unlocked, what _was_ important enough to lock?

And who could help her find out? Who would be willing to help someone labeled a Supervillain?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi seeks out some new allies.

* * *

_An excerpt from a news article, published a few years ago:_

Much has been said about the revitalization of the Defenders of the Light within the last few years. And indeed, the Hero organization has been going strong for over a decade now, with no signs of slowing. Regionally, they’ve become all but synonymous with the idea of Superheroes.

But for some people, the name “Defenders of the Light” still calls to mind an older organization, one started back when superpowers were considered science fiction, and vastly predating the current glossy, professional image. It started more than a quarter century ago, as a team of men and women who banded together to do what they felt necessary to protect the people of their city.

Attitudes from those who recall this older version are sharply polarized.

Some fondly recall a time when heroism seemed like the kind of thing anyone could do, when the drive to make things better was enough, regardless of what authorities said. They see the original Defenders of the Light as inspirational figures, mundane heroes who did what they believed in. 

Others say they struggle to trust the current incarnation of the organization, because they associate the name so strongly with vigilantism. And indeed, that was the way authorities viewed the organization when it started. And despite their popularity with average citizens at the time, in the past several years the “vigilante” label has grown more and more common.

The Defenders of the Light have largely tried to distance themselves from that history, emphasizing their _super_ heroism, and pushing the remaining original members to retire quietly. And indeed, most of those original heroes have faded from public consciousness entirely, remembered much like the long-retired sports icons and movie stars of our childhoods.

Whether the “new” incarnation of the Defenders of the Light will fully escape the shadow of what it was before remains to be seen, but at the very least, it has begun a new legacy of what it is to be a Hero.

* * *

Kairi kept her eyes on the road, ignoring her exhaustion, forcing her eyes to stay open for just a while longer. The adrenaline that had kept her going throughout the day was wearing off now that she was sitting still. A glance at the clock told her she’d crossed over to the next day without even noticing. And it wasn’t over yet.

She needed someone who could help her access the files on the laptop. If The Scientist were around maybe he could have done it—of course he could, it was his computer apparently—but at this point she had no idea how long he’d been gone. The last time she’d directly seen him had been at the formal press event, where he’d been on stage presenting research.

With him out of the running, she didn’t really know _any_ tech experts. The Defenders of the Light had always taken care of their nebulous technology needs, ensuring none of the individual Heroes were forced to do anything to maintain it… also ensuring that none of them _could._ And it was all a moot point, because as far as she knew, she was the last of the Heroes who hadn’t been captured.

Her eyes slid over to the laptop, in its case, flat on the passenger seat next to her. There was no reason to keep checking it was there, and yet she was paranoid enough that seeing it reassured her.

The potential solution she was now chasing after had actually occurred to her in passing, though it had taken her a few minutes to really latch onto it. _The most she’d done was help maintain the “secret” tech that had been set up before her time as a Hero._

That “secret tech” _was from the original Defenders of the Light_. If they’d been able to set that up, then maybe they had enough know-how to help with this. And if anyone understood being pushed out and labeled something you weren’t, it would be the so-called “vigilante” ex-heroes, right? So maybe they’d at least hear her out before turning her in.

So now she was driving through the night to find the location the original heroes had retired to. She still didn’t know what had caused her and the other Heroes to be seen as villains and the villains to be seen as the new heroes, so she had no idea how far that perception had spread. But if it was geographically contained, there was hope; the original heroes were outside the city, far enough away that she’d been driving since before sunset and she still wasn’t there.

She’d met them, when she was a kid, back when she was “Starchild” and the existence of superpowers was still exciting and new. The Defenders of the Light had been the ones to take her in, to help her learn about this world she’d found herself in until she was adopted.

It hadn’t been long before they were pushed out of the organization, but she hoped they’d remember her.

She shook her head and reached for the energy drink in the cup holder. She finished it and cracked another, tossing the empty can to join the others littering the floor of the backseat.

It probably would have been a good idea to at least try and contact the original heroes first, give them some warning that she was coming, to gauge what kind of reception she was likely to get. But, well, the risks had seemed too high when she’d been thinking about it in the deserted Headquarters building.

Any chance that a call could be intercepted was too high, and knowing that the Defenders of the Light habitually tracked their Heroes meant that chance wasn’t a slim one. Any possibility that her plan could be learned, that someone—any number of whom had the ability to functionally teleport—could come for her, that they could come back for this laptop that must have been left behind in error… It was all too risky, because this could be her only shot.

Now, as it was creeping toward one in the morning, still close to four hours away from her destination, the equation seemed less obvious. What if they weren’t there anymore? What if they’d all gone on vacation? What if they’d been alerted to her Villain status and would call the police as soon as her car pulled up?

What if she got there, they broke into the files, and they just discovered it was weird porn? She giggled, but it sounded on the edge of hysteria even to her own ears, so she stifled it.

Kairi shook her head again, took another drink of liquid caffeine, and kept driving. She’d make it to the next service station, grab some more energy drinks, maybe nap for an hour in the parking lot, and then keep going. It was all she could do.

\- 

Pulling up to a sprawling, enormous house in the middle of nowhere at six in the morning didn’t seem ideal, and Kairi had just enough presence of mind to deeply regret putting all of her eggs in this particular basket.

But she put the car in park, grabbed her bag and the laptop, and walked up the low steps to the front door. She rang the doorbell. This early in the morning was definitely a rude time to bother someone unannounced.

Despite the early hour, she didn’t have to wait long before someone came to the door. A tall woman opened the door a crack and asked, “Can I help you?”

She was older than when Kairi had last seen her, but she recognized Aerith, and a small bit of the tension she’d been holding deserted her. She felt her shoulders slump with the relief that at _least_ this was the right place.

Aerith was waiting, and Kairi fumbled over how to even explain. As long as the drive had been, as many times as she’d tried to plan what she’d say, how she’d ask for help, she couldn’t manage any of it. Finally she choked out, “Hi.”

“Hello. Can I help you?” Aerith repeated.

“You probably don’t remember me, I mean, it’s been a really long time, but…”

Aerith’s eyes widened a fraction, and so did the door as she pulled it open a bit farther. “Starchild? I mean… Radiance, now, isn’t it? Is that you?”

Kairi just about collapsed as she nodded, tears coming to her eyes and starting to spill down her cheeks.

“Come in.” Aerith waved her inside. “What’s happened?”

-

Kairi cradled a cup of hot coffee, enjoying the warmth and the fact that it was occupying her hands more than she really wanted to drink it.

Aerith had called everyone in the house to come down and hear what Kairi had to say. It had been more than a little overwhelming, to be the center of attention for almost the entire old lineup of heroes. Aerith, Leon, Yuffie, Cloud, Tifa, Cid… Even if they _had_ fallen out of favor, maligned as outdated relics of a pre-superpowered era, they had _been_ the face of heroism when she was a child. They were among the first people she’d met as a child new to this world, even if she’d been too young at the time to truly appreciate who they were.

It was halting, and she was so exhausted she was afraid half the words made no sense, but she finally got the story out. She’d started with an explanation of the Event they were being prepared for, moved to Corridor’s betrayal, and finally described waking up in a world that saw her and her team as villains and the Organization as Heroes. As they asked questions, she explained more, filling in the gaps about the missing Heroes, the break-ins at their private residences, the Headquarters building being deserted, finding the laptop…

After Kairi’s explanation faded into quiet, Yuffie tilted her head to the side. “How could they convince a whole city to forget who you were? Not even that, remember you as something totally different?”

Kairi just shook her head. “I don’t know. But… it’s like they warned us this was going to happen. We just didn’t realize what it meant. One of the first things that was said before this all started was that this new Event was ‘going to redefine hero and villain.’ Whatever… memory distortion, or whatever it is, I’m glad it didn’t reach here.” She didn’t say it, but the threat of “... _yet_ ” hung over the statement.

“I didn’t think we were on anyone’s radar anymore,” Leon said. “But I’m glad you came here.”

That was as good an opening as any. “We used your comm system. The official channels couldn’t detect it, so we—me, Keyblade, and Corridor—kept using it, so we knew what was happening when we were split up.”

“I’ll be damned,” Cid laughed. “That shit still works? You were a kid when I showed you that.”

She nodded. “You built good tech. I know that’s not the same thing, so I don’t know if you can, but that laptop I found has files that are locked. I can’t access them, but I think they’re important. They could explain what’s going on. Or maybe it’s nothing, but I don’t know how to get to them to find out. Would you be able to get them unlocked?”

Cid made a ‘hand it over’ gesture across the table. She picked up the laptop bag and slid it over.

“We’ll see what we can do.”

“The password written on the note unlocks the computer itself.”

He nodded.

“You look like you’re going to drop,” Tifa said, leaning forward. “Have you slept?”

“For about an hour at a rest stop,” she admitted.

Yuffie was the first to stand up. “Come on, then!” She half-hauled Kairi to her feet. “We have a guest room, and you need sleep.”

“But…” Kairi protested weakly.

“You’re not much help if you can’t think straight,” said Cloud.

She knew he was right. She nodded, and allowed Yuffie and Aerith to show her to a small guest room. She was asleep before she even got under the covers.

-

Kairi woke up disoriented, and she froze, trying to assess the unfamiliar surroundings. Everything came back quickly, and she could have wept with relief that at least they believed her. She had help.

She slid off the bed and looked around the room. She’d been so exhausted before that she hadn’t even really seen it. It was nice enough, though with the slightly disused and mismatched air of every guest room she’d ever stayed in. That was strangely comforting.

Venturing into the hall, she at least remembered her way to the kitchen, so that was the direction she chose.

“Sleep well?” Tifa was at the kitchen table, reading something on a tablet in front of her.

Kairi nodded. “Much-needed. How long was I out?”

“It’s about 3:00, so seven hours or so. Leon and Cid have been working on the laptop you gave us, and I think they were successful. Right now they’re copying the files, just to be sure nothing can happen to the data.”

“Where are they? Can I go see?”

“They’re in Leon’s office. Third door down the hall.” Tifa pointed down a different hallway than the guest room was in.

“How big is this house?” Kairi asked.

She’d meant it rhetorically, but Tifa answered: “We had to find somewhere big enough for all of us. It just didn’t seem right, when we realized we didn’t have much of an option _besides_ retiring, for us to split up. Maybe it’s strange, but we were a _team_. We got used to relying on each other for everything. But we also don’t want to constantly be stumbling over each other. So it’s big.”

“Fair enough,” Kairi said, pushing away the daydreams about having a house for the people closest to her. Focus on now.

She ventured toward Leon’s office.

The door was closed, but a knock got her an impatient “Come in,” from Cid.

She shut the door behind her. “Tifa said you’d gotten the files unlocked?”

Leon nodded, not looking away from the screen. “And you were right. These files were about some ongoing project the Defenders of the Light were running. There’s experimental data in here about alternate realities, about trying to find specific people within those realities… even about creating alternate dimensions. There’s more than we’ve had time to look at. We’re creating backup copies of the files right now.”

She let out several long, slow breaths. “They’ve been talking about this alternate dimension we’re supposedly colliding with. The Organization is supposedly from there. Is there information about that?”

“I think you’ll need to read some of this for yourself,” was Leon’s not-terribly-comforting answer.

-

They drafted everyone into poring over the files. They were gathered around the oversized kitchen table again, each with piles of printouts, carefully labeled as to which file they’d come from.

So much of it was written in shorthand and jargon that was probably perfectly comprehensible to the scientists and lab assistants who’d conducted the experiments, but made Kairi’s head spin.

Every once in a while, someone would highlight something, or read a bit out loud. She wished she was getting to see everything herself, but there was just too much. It would have taken her days to read through it all.

She put aside a stack of pages that held records of specific measurements she lacked the context to evaluate, and turned to the next batch. This particular bit was written more conversationally, like a journal entry by someone talking their way through an idea.

_Alternate Potential Powersets_

_Superhuman powers manifest due to a confluence of causes: a balance of an aptitude or predisposition, and the environmental factors that actually bring them about. There’s clearly a genetic link, but an imperfect one. Other Heroes arise from documented accidents or exposures, or are chosen seemingly at random by external power that grants them extraordinary ability._

_A question that has been difficult (and will likely remain so) to test is whether or not each person has only one particular power they could develop, or whether there are multiple potentials. I hypothesize that if an individual were to have the proper predisposition allowing them to develop a superhuman ability, different environmental exposures could result in different abilities manifesting._

_As we continue our research into alternate dimensions, I hope to find a way to test this hypothesis. If we find a dimension similar enough to our own to contain the same (or some of the same) individuals, then perhaps we will find out if these alternates ever develop different powersets, or if they remain consistent._

Kairi highlighted the title of the paper in pink and shifted it to a different pile. “Someone, probably The Scientist, wanted to study whether alternate versions of the same people could develop different powersets.”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Yuffie said, sorting through her own pile of discarded pages, before pulling one out. “I haven’t read it yet, but I saw something with a list of powers… here it is!”

She passed two pages over to Kairi, who started to read them.

The first was titled _Anticipated Power of Organization Members_. She read on:

_The inciting action taken on the night of the press event appears to have been successful. As we await the chance to collect more data, we have recorded our baseline assumptions about what we will see in order to mark any variation._

_Xigbar: Enhanced speed and accuracy_  
_Xaldin: Elemental control of air_  
_Vexen: Ability to view connections between data points_  
_Lexaeus: Enhanced strength_  
_Zexion: Unknown; artifact?_  
_Saix: Enhanced strength and speed relative to lunar cycles_  
_Axel: Elemental control of fire_  
_Demyx: Elemental control of water (vocal)_  
_Luxord: Ability to view probability of outcomes_  
_Marluxia: Elemental control of plants_  
_Larxene: Elemental control of electricity_  
_Roxas: Unknown; artifact?_

_The effect on those with dimensional or artifact-given powers is unknown._

Kairi went cold. There was no way that list of powersets was coincidental. She’d already thought it was suspicious how similar the Organization had been to the Heroes, but those were the _exact_ powers represented on the Defenders of the Light roster. 

But that wasn’t entirely correct for the Organization.

The second page was titled _Displayed Powers of Organization Members_ and continued with:

_Now that all organization members have been observed, we feel we have conclusively answered the question of whether specific powers are guaranteed. While there is strong correlation between powers that manifest in individuals, variation can and does occur._

What followed was a list of which members’ powers matched up with the anticipated list, and which did not. This list was correct in regards to what she’d actually seen in fighting the Organization. Most had been correctly predicted, but some didn’t match up:

_Vexen: incorrect. Subject displays elemental control over ice._  
_Lexaeus: partially correct. Subject additionally displays elemental control over earth._  
_Zexion: displays ability to craft illusions._  
_Demyx: partially correct. Subject’s elemental control over water is facilitated instrumentally._  
_Luxord: partially correct. Subject can also alter probability._  
_Roxas: has received a keyblade._

More insistently, something was bothering her about the names. She ran down the list, trying to figure out what it was. Xigbar would be Trickshot, Xaldin would be Lancer, Vexen would be The Scientist… none of that meant anything to her.

The Scientist was Even. Vexen and Even… _Fuck._ She skimmed to the bottom. Roxas and Sora. And there was the pattern. 

“Do we have a printed copy of the active roster? The one that included real names?” Kairi asked, voice only shaking slightly.

Quiet shuffling of papers before Cloud held a sheaf of pages up, and passed them to Kairi.

It was the file she’d first started reading when she found the laptop. It still felt wrong to be prying, but she had to prove her theory right, so she skimmed down.

_Lancer… Civilian identity: Dilan…_

Compared to the Organization list, he would be Xaldin. The pattern held.

_Fire Dancer… Civilian identity: Lea…_

And he’d match up to Axel.

_Nymph… Civilian identity: Elrena…_

Larxene.

And finally she scrolled down, just to see.

_Keyblade… Civilian identity: Sora Irino._

They’d known his identity after all.

“The Organization members are somehow based off of the most recent roster of the Defenders of the Light,” she said, words falling heavy into the room.

She held up the pages listing their powers, and the roster that named the Heroes, offering them for everyone else to see. “The Organization members have essentially the same names as the civilian identities of the Heroes, just with an X added in and the letters jumbled. They were expected to have the exact same powers, but some came out different.”

None of them would have realized, because civilian identities were closely guarded, even between Heroes. They could have guessed at one or two, but it would have been hard to recognize the pattern, even with it right in front of them. Even when she’d _been_ suspicious. Larxene and Nymph had been so similar to fight. Axel and Fire Dancer, two red-headed fire manipulators. Roxas and Keyblade, somehow chosen by the same artifact. And yet she’d tried to pretend it was coincidence, too worried about what was going to happen to Riku to take on an extra mystery.

And it was in some ways a much smaller discovery, but realizing that whatever they’d pretended, the Defenders of the Light _had_ known Sora’s identity… a small bit of hope blossomed in her chest. Riku wasn’t the only one who could have sent them to Sora’s apartment after all.

Cid took the papers she held out, skimmed through them quickly, and then looked at her. “This first one mentions an inciting incident. That mean anything to you?”

“The press event. They had all the Heroes come to a mandatory formal event, supposedly to mingle with the media…”

“Anything odd happen?”

“They announced the fact that we were approaching another dimension. But also…” she remembered something making her stumble, and that she’d been exhausted that night, and the next day. “There was something that seemed to affect the Heroes, but no one else. Just a moment where we all felt _something_ happen. Something wrong. It passed almost immediately, but I felt _off_ the next day, almost hungover, and Sora said the same, even though we hadn’t been drinking. Riku wasn’t there, and he felt fine.”

Cid passed the pages down, and Tifa took a look at them.

“Why do some of the Heroes not have an analogue? You’re not on here. Neither is Riku. Neither is Xehanort.”

Kairi frowned. “Riku wasn’t at the event. And not like he just didn’t show up, he wasn’t even invited. And Xehanort and I are the only dimensional Heroes on the roster, and the file about anticipated powers mentions that they didn’t know how to predict those. I wonder if that’s related.”

Tifa nodded.

Leon leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “So we’ve at least started to answer _what_ happened. What do we do about it?”

Kairi knew exactly what she needed to do, even if she hadn't worked out how yet. “I need to save Riku and Sora. And the rest of the Defenders of the Light, if I can.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rescue mission takes form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a wonderful art piece by Besin, who was my artist for the KH Rogue Nebula event!

* * *

_A local news article._

**Public Support for Recall of Mayor Uchida Grows**

Persistent rumors continue to threaten Mayor Uchida’s office. While nothing has been confirmed officially, due to legal protections for superhumans’ civilian identities, several sources have spoken off the record connecting the mayor to the supervillain Radiance. Once the purview of supermarket tabloids, the theory that Radiance is actually Kairi Uchida, the mayor’s adopted daughter, has been gaining traction, along with support for a recall vote in light of the scandal.

The mayor has so far refused to comment, asking that the privacy of his family be respected, and for people to consider his record as a public official rather than rumors about his family’s private life.

The supervillain Radiance was once a hero in our city, until she was tempted down whatever dark path The Defenders of the Light followed. Much like the original team to bear that name, she and the other once-heroes seem to have been corrupted, eventually turning into little more than vigilantes, pursuing their own sense of justice by any means available.

Tragically, this eventually led to the murder of two Organization members. While they afterwards claimed self-defense, video shows it was a clear act of aggression on the parts of Keyblade and Corridor. While Radiance herself was not involved in the fatal blows, her mere presence and failure to intervene suggests she may have been complicit.

Corridor has since been welcomed into the Organization, a move that many hailed as one of the most altruistic motions any prominent Hero group has ever made.

Radiance is now wanted in connection to the deaths of Vexen and Zexion. She is the last member of the Defenders of the Light to be uncaptured by the Organization. All others have been taken into custody. Radiance was last seen a few days ago when she made contact with police, though she was not detained at the time. Kairi Uchida is also reportedly missing, and is wanted for questioning.

If either of them are sighted, you are encouraged to report them to the local authorities. Tips can also be made anonymously.

* * *

They finalized their plans from a dingy motel suite. It was closer to the city than the vigilantes’ house, but still far enough away that the memory manipulation didn’t seem to have completely taken hold.

The usual blogs and discussion boards dedicated to the Defenders of the Light were still gone, mostly spitting back 404 errors and unregistered domains, with occasional notices of copyright takedowns. Memory manipulation couldn’t have been responsible for that, but they wouldn’t have _needed_ any kind of supernatural intervention to accomplish it. Cid had shown her a list of hosting services that the Defenders of the Light as a corporation, and Xehanort as an individual, owned shares in or had “agreements” with. It had been the work of years of subtle behind-the-scenes maneuvering, to gain control over so much. 

It made Radiance’s skin crawl, as she thought of all the time they’d spent scouring blogs and forums, trying to find information and opinion more honest or unfiltered than the “official” record the Defenders of the Light put out. And all along, most of those sources had belonged in some way to Xehanort, whether the individuals using those platforms knew it or not.

They combed through the media that was still reporting, but couldn’t glean much. There were plenty of glowing pieces about how wonderful the Organization was, and their acts of heroism keeping the city a safer place. Stopping muggers, thwarting burglaries… even the PR-staples of rescuing cats from trees and helping old ladies across the street. It was all so obviously scripted Radiance couldn’t understand how anyone took it seriously.

By contrast, the Defenders of the Light were barely mentioned at all, and she wondered if they were being pushed out of sight, out of mind. Would it be easier to ultimately make the city’s population forget about them, instead of remembering them as something they hadn’t been?

There’d been one new relevant article, and it was mostly about her. She, both as Radiance and Kairi Uchida, was wanted by the police, with directions to contact authorities on sight. There were demands her adoptive father be recalled as mayor. She knew she couldn’t even try to reach out to them, but her heart ached, wondering what her family thought of her.

The article also mentioned that the rest of the Defenders of the Light Heroes had been “taken into custody.” Nothing said _where_ , but she knew the mundane police weren’t equipped to handle superhumans. And she’d already visited the abandoned Headquarters building, so she knew they weren’t there.

Then they found out about the Castle. An enormous, floating castle, surrounded by perpetual night, just to the north of the city. The stronghold for the Organization. Somehow the appearance of the castle had garnered no fanfare, and Radiance assumed that could be chalked up to whatever was affecting the city’s collective memory. 

There was no way to know what the castle’s existence meant, but she doubted it was anything good. It seemed likely it was a mark of whatever alternate dimension the Organization had come from growing stronger, gaining a more tangible presence in _this_ dimension.

The vigilantes had done some minor reconnaissance into the city, charting a pathway to the castle, trying to discover any additional information that could help them. Radiance wished she had been able to go with them, but she was probably the most wanted “criminal” in the city, and couldn’t risk it. Tifa and Aerith had revisited her apartment, in case there was anything useful there. It was her official drop location for the Defenders of the Light if they made some attempt to contact her.

According to them, it had been completely roped off by police tape, and Radiance knew it wasn’t because they were taking the break-in seriously. But the women had found something new, something Radiance wouldn’t have missed, however brief her investigation had been.

A series of pages torn out of a sketchbook.

The drawings were stylized and bright, drawn in sketchy colored pencil, but it was easy to tell what they depicted. 

The first showed Corridor, Radiance, and Keyblade, all in costume, holding hands. The reverse of that page showed Sora, no longer in costume, Naminé, and Corridor in his Organization coat, all three holding hands. The images on each side of the page lined up almost perfectly, deliberate reverse-versions of each other.

The second page showed Sora behind bars, like he was in a cage. Naminé sat in front of the cage, crying, holding a sketchbook. 

The third showed Naminé and Corridor, again holding hands, but Naminé once again crying.

The final page had no drawing, just words. In large, rough text in the middle of the page, ‘I’m Sorry.’ And at the very bottom, in the same handwriting, but much smaller, ‘We want to exist.’

Radiance had spent what felt like hours staring at the images. The fact Naminé was holding the sketchbook in one image made it seem like she must have been the artist. The first page reminded Radiance of the time Sora “misspoke” and started talking about Naminé traveling with him and Riku. Had that been the start of the memory manipulation? Was the other woman trying to replace her? But then why would she be crying? And why the apology?

Questions she couldn’t answer, and she couldn’t spend any longer focusing on right now.

When Kairi had gone to the vigilantes—the term had always been intended as a pejorative, but she discovered they’d adopted it as a strange badge of honor—she’d only been looking for help with the locked files. She’d barely thought beyond that, hoping only that it could give her a direction. Whatever other nebulous plans she may have considered, all had her going up against the Organization alone. Instead, the vigilantes had stuck with her.

Cid had stayed behind in the shared house, “In case it all goes to shit,” as he put it. He had the files, and would do everything he could to make sure their contents were spread far and wide if it came to that.

Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith had headed back into the city, to points they’d decided on during their initial recon. They’d protect civilians and do their best to keep any of the Organization members or Dusks from fleeing. It wasn’t much protection against the dark pathways the Organization could open, but they didn’t want casualties they could prevent.

Leon and Yuffie were coming with Radiance. They’d skirt the majority of the city, trying to minimize chances they’d be spotted, and approach this new stronghold.

“Are you ready?” Leon asked. The question was a little gruff, but also sincere: Radiance had no doubt that if she said no, he’d call this off, let them take more time to prepare.

But she couldn’t delay. The castle was definitely where Riku was, and the best guess she had for Sora. She was going to rescue them. And the rest of the Heroes. “I have to be ready.”

“Then let’s go!” Yuffie clapped her on the shoulder.

She touched her mask, making sure it was secure. Maybe she understood why the others had embraced the “vigilante” label after all. She’d chosen to come here in the persona the Defenders of the Light helped to create, and it felt like a statement. If they wanted her to be a supervillain, then she was going to be one.

-

  
_Art by[Besin](https://besinishere.tumblr.com). Definitely worth checking out in full size!_

Toward the north end of the city, it began to change. This had once been the area where the city proper became a warehouse district that rapidly thinned out, until disused lots outnumbered buildings, and it faded into empty fields providing a buffer between the city and the wilder hills beyond. Now everything from the warehouses north had been replaced by a new city, one unlike the rest.

The castle was surrounded by continual night, and so was this. Between one step and the next along the main road, it went from bright midday sun to black night sky overhead, without even visible stars. The only light came from flickering neon lights edging seemingly-abandoned buildings. The castle itself loomed large, jarringly white against the darkness.

Radiance braced herself when she took that step into the dark, ready for the lurch of moving between dimensions, but it didn’t come. She couldn’t even guess whether that was good or bad. The air was cooler on the other side, but other than that there was nothing to indicate that anything had changed. It was even more disconcerting to look over her shoulder and see the bright daylight, but to have none of the light actually reaching them. There wasn’t even a thin band of twilight to smooth out the transition.

The streets themselves were deserted. Radiance wondered what happened to anyone who’d been on the normal—or at least ‘from her dimension’—streets when the castle and surrounding city blocks appeared. Maybe it was better not to know that answer.

Radiance adjusted her grip on the short knife Yuffie had given her. She’d spent so long wishing she’d be given a knife; now she had one and it felt unnatural in her hand.

She’d been expecting an immediate ambush that hadn’t come. There was still plenty of opportunity before they reached their destination, and all three of them clung to the shadows. It was dark enough that wasn’t a challenge in and of itself, though Radiance had to focus hard to dim the flickers from her skin. She hoped the sparks that got away from her blended in with the neon lights reflecting off the wet road. No surprise that Yuffie was the best at remaining completely unseen; she lived up to her once-codename of “Ninja.”

The sneaking and the vigilance, ready for the Organization to spring out of a portal in an alleyway or appear on a rooftop, made the low burbling noise of Heartless feel anticlimactic. They weren’t unexpected, because of course they would thrive in this all-consuming night. Not that Radiance was complaining as she channeled her nervous energy into a blade of light at her fingertips and sliced easily through the first Shadow to lunge at them.

As that one dissolved, two more fell back into nothingness with well-placed knives from Yuffie. Another whirl of light wiped out a new cluster of them, and Leon used his trademark gunblade to take out the remaining few. The feeling of working closely and well with a pair of other heroes still stung; that feeling of teamwork so familiar, but the specifics so different from what she was used to, and so desperately missed.

The castle was a beacon overhead, its strange white light brighter than the neon glow of the city buildings, yet not enough to dispel the shadows. Still, it certainly provided an inescapable target to aim for.

At the end of the road was a free-standing doorway, made of the same shining white as the castle, framing a span of black nothingness. It wasn’t hidden, glowing brighter than anything around it, but it was guarded by a pair of Dusks, drifting one way and stalking back the other in front of the portal.

Radiance tightened the grip on her knife and made eye contact with Leon, hidden in the shadows across the narrow street. He reached behind him, gripping the hilt of his gunblade.

Radiance held up three fingers on the hand not holding the knife, then two, then one.

Leon drew the gunblade, lunging toward one of the Dusks. Radiance aimed for the other, ducking down to minimize her profile and get in close. One of Yuffie’s knives landed in the Dusk’s shoulder, as Radiance slashed with her own, cutting a long stretch in the creature’s front.

Darkness spread from the wounds, and the Dusks faded to nothing.

Radiance faced the portal, squaring her shoulders and trying to push the fear down. What if Corridor and Keyblade—Riku and Sora—weren’t waiting on the other side? What if this wasn’t something she was strong enough to do? What if she couldn’t save the other Heroes? She couldn’t let those things matter, because she had to try.

“Not heavily guarded,” Leon commented.

Radiance nodded. It could be a trap. Another _what if_. Or maybe they didn’t anticipate the last remaining Defender of the Light would even get this far.

This portal was more like the ones she was used to. It looked pure black, but in the depths she could catch occasional flickers of dark purple. Contained in the doorframe, she didn’t know if it was the same as the ragged tears the Organization members opened, or if it was more like one of Corridor’s. With one more deep breath, she stepped through.

Unlike the boundary between the ordinary city and the dark neon-lit one, this time she felt the expected vertigo. It was enough to make her stumble a half-step out into the white of the castle.

Leon and Yuffie actually looked worse coming through; Yuffie leaned forward onto her knees for a second, breathing deep and slow, and Leon looked just a bit queasy. Something to be said for familiarity with corridors.

And the room they’d wound up in was familiar too, though Radiance knew she likely hadn’t been here specifically. But the stark white of the walls, floor, arched ceiling, the architectural embellishments that somehow made the lack of color even more striking… all of that was familiar from the time she’d been pulled here before.

“Where do we go now?” Leon asked, seeming to recover from the portal-induced nausea.

Radiance worried at her lower lip. “I don’t know. We need to find wherever they’re holding the Heroes they’ve taken prisoner.”

“Well, we are in a castle…” Yuffie’s voice trailed off. “Don’t castles usually have dungeons?”

That was as good a suggestion as any, and they looked for anything that would take them downwards.

-

They found a set of stairs, along with more Dusks. Radiance hoped that was a good sign; why have creature-guards if they weren’t guarding something? The three of them took care of the Dusks easily: Leon’s gunblade was extremely effective, and even the short knife Radiance now had did more against the creatures than all of the light flashes she could summon up.

The stairs themselves stretched for an uncomfortably long distance, playing badly with the apparent physics of the building as well as their perception of space. Radiance remembered that from the other time she’d been here, how halls and rooms seemed to loop back into each other in impossible ways.

But there was a bottom to the stairs, and in the same pure white as everything else, cells. And the Heroes were inside them.

There were more Dusks, waiting in a group between the stairway and the rows of cells. Radiance thought briefly that it must be nice for the Organization to have guards that couldn’t be intimidated, or bribed, or grow bored with their assignments. After that, she couldn’t spare attention for anything other than the fight.

Fighting the Dusks in this environment, where everything was equally colorless, provided a new challenge, making it hard to focus on the individual creatures and their motions.

Leon took most of them on, rushing in to the thickest grouping, swinging the gunblade like a broadsword to take out several in a single go.

Radiance targeted specific Dusks, rolling and dodging to get close, and taking them out with her short knife. It was a relief to have an effective weapon, but she was still grateful she wasn’t doing this alone.

Yuffie stayed on the stairs, taking careful aim at Nobodies that skirted the sides of the room and approached the stairs, drifting toward the exit. Perhaps the creatures were just trying to escape, but the risk that they could alert the rest of the Organization was too high to take.

It was likely that their presence was already known—there could have been dozens of unseen alarms when they crossed into the city or through the castle’s portal—but they didn’t need to make sure of it.

As soon as the Dusks were taken care of, Radiance rushed down the rows of cells, for the moment ignoring all of the Heroes talking to her, calling out. She was looking for one person… but Keyblade wasn’t there.

She forced another shudder of her heart to subside, and turned back to the Heroes that _were_ there. All were still in costume, though looking a bit worse for the wear.

“Hi!” She smiled brightly. “How about a prison break?”

A few weak laughs, probably more from exhaustion and stress than any real humor.

“Apparently we _are_ the villains of the piece, now,” said Lunar Phase, voice dry. “So that might be fitting.” 

And then everyone was talking at once.

She went to Fire Dancer’s cell first, kneeling to examine the locking mechanism. It didn’t look like it could be brute-forced.

“I take it no one’s powers do anything to the locks?”

He shook his head. “We’ve all tried. Nothing works.”

“Are there keys?”

“Probably. But usually they just use the portals to drop things in. Food. People.”

“I’m sure I can pick them,” Yuffie said, kneeling to examine the lock closest to her. “But it’ll take a while.”

Radiance nodded and stood back up. She put her hand flat on the cell door, made of some kind of invisible but very solid barrier between traditional-looking bars. Fire Dancer put his hand up on the other side and gave her a lopsided smile.

“I’m glad you remember me,” she said. “And not as a supervillain.”

“Apparently, our brains aren’t worth the effort to keep fiddling with.” Fire Dancer looked toward Lunar Phase as he said it, and she remembered how easily he’d brushed it off when the Heroes had first started to vanish.

“I’m glad you’re all _alive_ ,” she added.

“Of course we are. They need some way to make new copies,” Grimoire said from the cell behind her.

Radiance swallowed hard. “Copies? They can make more?” She turned to face Grimoire.

He leaned forward against his own cell door and nodded. “There’s a machine. We… built a machine.”

“As part of the Potentials Project?”

The Scientist interrupted, “So you did find my computer?”

She nodded. “I did. At the old Headquarters building.”

He smirked, and that expression on his angular face reminded Radiance why she’d always found him creepy. But his notes were the only reason she’d figured it all out.

“Did you hear that, Gambler?” The Scientist called.

Gambler knocked on his cell door and smiled. “5.4 percent. A gamble that paid off.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I saw a slim possibility that you would evade capture, go to the Headquarters building, find the laptop, _and_ get to the files it contained. There was only a 5.4 percent chance of you getting this far. Less that you’d have backup like this,” he eyed the two retired heroes. “But it was better than nothing. But really, having Ninja and Lionheart with you… less than 1.8 percent...”

“A good thing you were able to convince me to leave my notes there before they took me,” The Scientist drawled.

“ _That_ had a 72.3 percent chance of success,” Gambler snapped.

“I did think it was a hell of a coincidence,” she admitted. “For the one computer I could find to have just the data I needed.”

“But you did find it,” The Scientist said. “And figured out how to get into the files. It had to _seem_ like it could be coincidental, or it grew more likely someone _else_ would find it first and destroy it.”

Grimoire cleared his throat. “Please discuss your brilliant planning later, because we aren’t safe yet.”

As soon as Radiance looked back at him, he continued. “The Scientist and I made the machine with instruction from Xehanort. We ran it the night of the press event, but didn’t know this was what it was supposed to do. He told us it was just going to open the door to this alternate dimension, not… populate it with copies. It needs to be destroyed, or he’ll just be able to keep making new versions of Heroes. He’s probably already working on new copies of The Scientist and of me, since you got rid of his first ones.”

She swallowed. The fact they could just be _replaced_ didn’t make her feel better. “I’ll try to destroy it. Where is it?”

“With Xehanort, in the upper floors. But be careful; destroying it might destroy the dimension itself, pulling the castle and everything else in on itself.”

She nodded, and then cleared her throat. “I have to ask, has anyone seen Keyblade? He was taken, and I thought he’d be here.”

Nymph was the first to answer. “Haven’t seen the kid. Xehanort might have him. If you were the last one out there, it makes sense he’d want something to try and make you cooperate.”

Nymph’s eyes flicked toward Thorn and some of the other Heroes. Radiance wondered if any of them had been used to capture each other.

“Go get him,” Nymph added. “And Corridor.”

Radiance nodded. “The upper floors.”

“I’ll stay and try to get these locks open,” Yuffie said, already fiddling with what looked like a lockpick set and one of the cell doors. “You two go.”

Leon turned with Kairi to go back up the stairs, but they only made it a few steps before two of the Organization members headed them off. Lexaeus and Demyx.

Radiance flung out a sharp arc of light, temporarily blinding them.

“Keep going,” Leon said. “I’ll take care of them, and follow as soon as I can.”

Radiance nodded, edging around the pair of Organization members while they were still blinded, and kept running. She knew Leon could take care of the Organization members. But she also knew it was unlikely he’d be following her. Xehanort obviously knew they were here now, and he’d send more Organization members, or more Dusks, to ensure his prisoners stayed captive. And Leon would have to stay so that Yuffie could keep working. She knew Leon would come to the same conclusion.

Radiance made it back to the first floor they’d come in on, and only a few rooms away found the stairs that led up. She started to climb.

The unending white was almost making her nauseous. It reminded her of being on the very edge of fainting, where everything goes white around the edges. It was an uncomfortable realization that it reminded her of the Defenders of the Light Headquarters building, which had been less extreme, but always featured white surfaces, for a “modern” look.

The staircase curved around a corner, and there was a Dusk waiting for her. She readied her knife, but the Dusk vanished, leaving behind an envelope.

Cautiously, Radiance picked it up and opened it. She recognized the paper and the style. It was the same as the invitations to the press event had been. Thick, soft paper that probably cost more than it had any right to.

_Radiance -_

_Your tenacity, allowing you to arrive here, is extraordinarily impressive. It’s regrettable that we didn’t recognize your potential sooner, a clear failure on my part.  
Your friend Sora, or “Keyblade”, is here with me. I’ll open a portal for you. Come here, and neither of you will be harmed while we negotiate the best course of action._

_\- X_

And true to the letter’s promise, a portal opened ahead of her.

It was horribly likely to be a trap. But it was also a direction. Something more specific than “up.”

Radiance stepped through.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final boss fight.

* * *

_The following is a cached version of a blog post by a blogger known as “SoundofLight”. The original has been deleted._

**The Script Theory: Part 3**

Hi again! This is the third (maybe final?) post I’m making about “The Script Theory”. In part one I talked about what The Script Theory is, and why people find it a plausible theory regarding organizations devoted to the superpowered. In part two, I tried to answer the question of why the existence of The Script Theory matters, and the potential ethical ramifications if it were to be true. Both of those posts sparked a lot of interesting input and discussion, so please go check them out!

This time I want to talk about a facet of The Script Theory that’s considered a bit fringe even for people who are hardcore believers in the rest of it. 

Now, I’ll disclaim at the start that this is a bit more far-fetched, and a lot of people who discuss this aspect don’t genuinely believe that it’s currently happening, just that it _could_. Or that even if it isn’t within the realm of possibility, the fact that it would be _desirable_ to those organizations is in and of itself concerning.

Basically, what could be a logical extreme of a superhero organization focused solely on marketability as the primary, or potentially even _only_ , goal?

We already know that in reality, the Defenders of the Light do a fair amount of image control. And if we believe in The Script Theory, then that control goes beyond public image into their plotlines, alliances, friendships, rivalries, romances… potentially everything.

But wouldn’t the ideal, from the perspective of the Defenders of the Light or a similar organization, be _having complete control from the start_? There are potential problems with a script written after you have your “cast” assembled. What happens when someone stops following it? Not to mention the ethical issues of, say, forcing a pair of Heroes into a relationship based on popularity among fans, or forcing them into an action they disapprove of. We aren’t talking about on-screen roles, we’re talking about the actual _lives_ of these Heroes, even after the masks are off and the costumes are hung up for the day.

So wouldn’t it be desirable for these issues to be circumvented entirely? To, instead of crafting a script for a team, craft a _team_ to suit a _script_?

Obviously, this isn’t actually possible at this point, considering the rarity of Superpowered individuals. The Defenders of the Light and other groups don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing, when only a fraction of a percent of individuals display any powers, and not all of them are suitable for Hero (or villain) work. But _what if?_

This would be completely antithetical to free will, an extreme of treating Heroes like puppets, not people. It’s the same method used for casting a movie or television show, but applied to real life, for a role they can’t step out of. And what would happen to those who were deemed unsuited to the desired script?

As the Defenders of the Light put ever more resources and time into answering the question of how powers appear, maybe we should hope they never discover how to control their manifestation. Because as bad as the thought of them controlling their Heroes based on marketability and public reception already is, _creating_ them solely to suit some test-audience-approved ideal would be far worse. But would we even know the difference?

* * *

The room on the other side of the portal was still white, but it felt like walking into an arena, with how empty and expansive the floor was.

At least true to Xehanort’s word, there wasn’t an immediate ambush.

Across the yards of empty space there were two… _thrones_ was all Radiance could think to call them. One was occupied by Xehanort, now wearing the black coat that seemed to be the uniform of his new Organization. The idea of Xehanort styling himself as some kind of ruler made Radiance feel ill, though she carefully controlled her expression to keep the disgust from showing.

Behind the thrones was a small platform, with an object on it surrounded by swirling darkness, concentric rings inside moving mechanically. She’d be willing to bet that was the machine she was supposed to destroy.

And back and to the side—

“Sora!” she called out.

He was out of costume, pounding his fist against an invisible barrier. It was probably similar to the barriers on the cells that the other Heroes were being held in. Unlike those barriers, she couldn’t hear him.

He said something, but she was too far away to read his lips. He pointed toward the thrones, and then made their hand signal—a pair of outstretched fingers quickly pulling in across his chest—for “two.”

Before she could see the rest of the message he was trying to impart, Xehanort stood and stepped between them.

“I’m glad you received my message Radiance.” His voice was smooth and congenial, as if he’d just invited her to his office in Headquarters to talk about something.

“I did,” she said. “And I’ve learned what you’ve been doing here. Copies of the Defenders of the Light? Trying to replace us? You can’t hide that forever.”

“What’s been hidden? And did you consider why I would have been driven to do such a thing?”

She didn’t approach, and neither did he. She tamped down her nervous flickers of light, storing them up for anything she could use her powers for. Her fingers were sweaty on the knife, but her grip was firm.

In true supervillain form, he used her silence as a chance to continue speaking, now walking slowly forward, keeping himself between her and Sora.

“The Defenders of the Light should have been enough. So many ideal scenarios set up for them. We worked continually to give them—you—everything you could need. Storylines and contracts and income from merchandizing. If you could follow the rules, everything would be taken care of.

“But that was never enough. No, the Heroes balked at plotlines, wanted to make their own decisions, regardless of how popularly those ideas would test. We were building an empire, and _you_ would have thrown public approval away in exchange for selfish, personal connections. Affairs of the heart.

“So isn’t the Organization an attractive, ideal solution? Its members all true _Nobodies_. Similar powersets, but without the history and baggage of the previous Heroes. No pesky hearts to split their loyalties. Tractable versions, willing to act out the roles and plotlines we have agreed are superior. Better, to do so _gratefully_ , because it’s what has given them an existence.”

Radiance shuddered. “Some people just play with dolls, or write fanfiction to cope with characters not doing what they want. Because that’s what you mean, right? You wanted us to be characters, happy to do anything you wanted in the story you wrote for us, but us being people got in your way.”

He looked pointedly at her knife, and his brown eyes narrowed in clear disapproval. “You were one of the worst. You could have been set up as the princess of the Defenders, with one of the most compelling backstories, a search for your identity, and with so much potential to grow… but you chained yourself to Keyblade and Corridor, resisting anything all three of you didn’t like.”

“Corridor seems to be enough for you,” she snapped, pushing the emotional twinge away. “Important enough that you needed _him_ , not some copy.”

Xehanort paced closer. The floor was wide enough that he still wasn’t within striking range. “Unfortunate necessity. His powerset could have destabilized our dimension when it was being created, if his cognate wound up with the same power and had trouble learning to control it. Uncontrolled dimensional holes are risky when the dimension itself is newly created. Besides, we needed a test case for the memory alterations. And if he was going to persist in being suspicious of the Defenders of the Light, better to bring him to our side rather than give him something new to be suspicious about.

“But you didn’t come here purely for a monologue. You came because I wanted to negotiate. Or at least make an offer. So here it is: if you will leave, go somewhere far away from the city, and ignore everything you know about the Organization, you can be ignored in turn. I’ll even give you Sora, and the two of you can start over somewhere else. You stay out of our way, and we won’t come after you.”

She winced at his use of Sora’s real name. She knew they were aware of his identity, and he had been captured out of costume. It still felt wrong. The offer itself was nearly identical to what Riku had suggested, the night he’d come to her in the shared apartment.

Her eyes flicked back toward Sora, in his invisible cell. He was still pounding on the barrier with fists and feet. And miraculously, it looked like it was starting to work. The barrier rippled in a way it hadn’t before, distorting the air like a heat wave.

She stepped forward to keep Xehanort’s eye on her. They were only a yard apart, now. Her answer hadn’t changed from when Riku had suggested it, but she tried to project uncertainty, keeping Xehanort’s attention.

“It will buy you peace,” he said, and she bristled at the gentleness in his tone that she knew was a lie. “You didn’t want to be controlled, this lets you be free of it. Live whatever life you want, just away from here.”

“And in this scenario, Corridor would still be with you?” she asked.

He looked almost regretful, another lie, when he said, “He would. For Sora we have Roxas, but Riku… At least for a time, he would have to stay with us. Perhaps eventually we could reach a point where he could join you… if he wanted to.”

The usual kind of poisonous promise, the kind she’d fallen for too many times when she’d believed in the Defenders of the Light as a whole. Promises of some nebulous later, when everything would be “ready” for the outcome they wanted. And now, when Corridor had been led to remember them as villains, of course he wouldn’t _want_ to go to them.

The wavering of the wall around Sora had grown more pronounced, and Radiance glanced down, as if she were genuinely considering the offer. _Keep looking at me, keep looking at me…_

Eventually she couldn’t plausibly draw the hesitation out any longer. “No,” she said. “No, we aren’t going to just disappear and let you get away with capturing our friends, lying to the entire city. We aren’t going to be rewritten as villains just to suit your narrative!”

The carefully pleasant expression vanished from Xehanort’s face in an instant, but before he could reply there was sound, like glass breaking, yet muffled, and the barrier around Sora vanished.

Xehanort turned, one hand raised. Sora was already rushing across the floor toward her, his namesake weapon drawn. For a brief second, her heart froze in her throat, afraid he was planning to attack _her_ , that he’d been functionally brainwashed too, but the pure rage on his face was focused solely on Xehanort. Before he reached either of them, a dark corridor opened, and Roxas lunged through, his own keyblade held up in a strike, ready to land.

Sora slid, redirecting his run into a block, and the keyblades struck each other, resonating throughout the room.

Radiance collected light along her arm, directing it outward down her fingers, planning to fling it into Roxas’ face. The light traveled true to the direction she wanted it to go, but instead of reaching her target, it deflected harmlessly off of another barrier, this one bisecting the room. Roxas and Sora battled on one side, while she was on the other with Xehanort.

_Where the fuck were those barriers coming from?_ She bit back a curse and turned her attention back to Xehanort, who was far too close for comfort.

She wanted to get him talking again. If she couldn’t help Sora directly, she’d at least keep attention away from him, so Roxas didn’t have backup either.

There had been a question all but burning her tongue earlier, one that felt too small and petty to ask, and yet she couldn’t stop wondering. “What about me? Why don’t I have an alter, or a potential, or whatever you’re calling them?” There hadn’t been any redheaded women throwing bolts of light in any of the fights, and even the Potentials Project files hadn’t given an answer.

“You didn’t recognize yourself in Naminé?”

She felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

“It’s true it’s a bit more complicated, when the original was a dimensional Hero to start with. It brings up all kinds of new variables, since the cognate isn’t being determined by a single dimension’s contents. The dimension you reside in, the dimension in which you originated, what caused your shift from one to the other. But with proper focus, it’s not impossible. Especially with you doing all that wonderful work on your memory.”

The knife shook in her hand. She _should_ have recognized something about Naminé. From the moment she saw the other woman in her apartment, from the first time Riku said he remembered her... _Doing all that work on your memory._

He smiled as he saw his words have the impact he’d been waiting for. “But it’s completely possible to create a new cognate of a dimensional Hero. For instance, meet my alternate potential, Xemnas.”

She spun, nearly stumbling in her hurry as she heard the footfalls behind her. She tightened her grip on the knife, but it suddenly felt pitifully small. More than she’d had before, yet still practically nothing… 

Xehanort’s alternate looked strikingly similar to him, the same long fall of silver hair, though instead of brown, his eyes were an unsettling gold. Dressed identically in the Organization coat, it was like seeing double.

“Little light,” he said, acknowledging her in introduction.

“‘Xemnas’ seemed like a fitting name,” Xehanort said. “A tribute to the leader I took over for. Ansem never had quite the imagination that I did, and likely wouldn’t have approved of the direction we led his Defenders of the Light in. But still, if he hadn’t taken me on as an assistant, we wouldn’t be here.”

“How is your imagination, little light?” Xemnas asked.

She swallowed hard. Roxas and Sora were so evenly matched, there didn’t seem to be a clear winner in that fight, yet.

“What do you mean?” she asked, taking another step back, knowing it wouldn’t do much to save her.

Xehanort answered, “As I said in my message to you, it was a gross oversight on our part not to recognize how much potential you have.”

She licked dry lips, but didn’t know what answer could be expected.

“You displayed a level of resourcefulness we hadn’t anticipated. The fact you found out so much, and then made it here shows that you have more to offer than we realized,” Xemnas added.

“And I must admit to always having had a certain… affinity for you, considering you’re one of the only other dimensional travelers we’ve discovered. And I certainly respect everything you’ve proven yourself willing to do. So is it possible that your reluctance to follow instruction was related more to boredom than actual unwillingness?” Xehanort asked.

She looked back and forth between Xehanort and Xemnas. “What are you saying?” she prompted again.

Sora had the upper hand it looked like, now-silent blows of his keyblade driving Roxas backwards across the floor. She hoped he’d keep the advantage.

“You’d asked about Corridor, when I made my first offer. How he would remain here. Perhaps you’d like to remain here as well? To join the same side, to help us. Before, you didn’t know what we were doing, so perhaps it was natural that you would balk at orders, not understanding the goal behind them. A mistake on our part. But now that you do know… And if it meant being here, with your beloved Corridor—Riku—maybe you’d cooperate. We could use your talent.”

Another pointed use of a real name. She followed suit to ask, “And Sora?”

“With Roxas, Sora would be… an unnecessary redundancy. But he could be kept safe. Reasonably comfortable.”

_Meaning imprisoned, at best._ She wondered if they’d intentionally set up those two options to try and force her to decide between Sora and Riku. She wouldn’t ever choose between them, and she wouldn’t metaphorically sell her soul for them, either. Ignore the villains, or join them?

She pretended to consider, still trying to buy time for Sora. And then it paid off, Sora landing a strike that sent Roxas’ weapon skittering across the floor. With a flick of his wrist he summoned it back to his hand, but it wasn’t fast enough; Sora’s keyblade sank into Roxas’ chest.

Roxas seemed to bleed black vapor, the way Vexen and Zexion had, though this time the vapor seemed to travel towards Sora, rather than dissipating. And then there was a _glow_ around both of them, the kind of thing that was more usual for her, as Roxas and his weapon vanished. No, not vanished so much as were absorbed _into_ Sora.

If the Organization members were just alternate potentials for the original Heroes, it made sense that perhaps whatever seed had been taken to create them would just… return. That would explain what Grimoire had meant, about keeping the Heroes to make more copies, if Xehanort could use the machine to recapture that piece.

With another rush, his keyblade raised, he lunged at the barrier keeping him apart from Kairi, Xehanort, and Xemnas. Again, the dulled sound of something shattering, and Sora slid through where the barrier had been, joining Radiance. She shifted so they were back to back, and raised her knife, flickering with sparks, ready to fight.

Xemnas stepped backward into a portal.

Xehanort laughed, though he did put a few more paces between himself and the two of them. “The empty struggles of the already defeated.”

“Are you okay?” Sora asked, under his breath.

She gave a quick nod. “You?”

“Glad you came for me.”

“Always.”

Before they could take any action, a portal reopened, and Corridor and Naminé came through, followed by Xemnas.

Xemnas pointed toward her and Sora. “Corridor, these villains have come for Naminé. They’ve already killed Roxas, and will do all they can to destroy everything we’ve built here. Protect her! Stop them!”

Radiance couldn’t fight the wave of dismay. She couldn’t hurt Corridor, and she doubted Sora could either. And if Sora still felt like he knew Naminé, he might not be able to fight her either.

Corridor had already drawn his knife, the long blade glinting wickedly as he took up a defensive posture in front of Naminé. Because of course Xemnas would have brought her along, to make sure Corridor felt the supposed threat in an immediate way. And if he felt like he had someone to protect, there was no distracting him from it.

Naminé grabbed his arm, leaning up to whisper something in his ear. Radiance wondered what she could possibly have said, but Corridor’s eyes widened as he glanced at her, then narrowed as he focused back on Radiance.

Then he was rushing forward, holding Naminé’s hand in his. Radiance braced, unable to do anything else as he struck her, shoving her away from Sora, and through a dark doorway.

-

The feeling of falling didn’t stop, despite there being some type of solid ground beneath her feet.

Usually entering a corridor only meant going a few paces through the darkness, then coming out wherever the portal connected to. This time, there was no exit portal opening, leaving Radiance nowhere to go.

She sent up a flare of light, which illuminated her, and then was absorbed into the dark around her.

Then Riku was in front of her, in the dark. Naminé stood behind him, still holding his hand.

“Riku,” Radiance said, unable to keep herself from reaching a hand toward him, even though her heart felt like it was breaking against the icy look on his face. 

The hand that reached toward him continued shedding sparks, sending them flickering around her, then around him and Naminé, providing strange, unsteady illumination around all three of them. The other hand still held her knife, though she knew she wouldn’t be able to use it.

“I have no idea why Naminé wanted me to bring you here, but she asked. Why couldn’t you just take my advice and leave? I can’t believe you would go this far, to come here, planning to kill—”

Naminé cut him off with a squeeze of her hand, then she stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Kairi.”

“I found your drawings. You said you were sorry there, too.” Her voice came out brittle.

She waited, but Naminé didn’t deny the sketch pages had been hers, so Kairi continued, “What did you do? Replace me in his memories?”

Naminé shook her head. “It’s more than that. I did take some of the memories of you from Riku and Sora, at first, as a test. But when that started to work, he wanted me to do it for the whole city. And… I did. For all of us in the Organization. I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do. We wanted to exist. _I_ wanted to exist, and once I did, I didn’t want to stop. The only place I’d be allowed to take was yours. But that didn’t make it right.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, and Kairi could feel how badly she wanted to be believed. Kairi’s eyes shifted toward Riku, who was looking at Naminé as if he’d been struck. Like he didn’t know what to believe.

“It wasn’t right, but he said if I didn’t do as I was told, we’d all disappear. That it would be my fault. Can you understand?”

Kairi wanted to spit that no, she didn’t understand, that she would _never_ understand it. But that wouldn’t be completely honest, would it? Hadn’t she done the same thing? Maybe not the same extreme, but she’d allowed Xehanort and the Defenders of the Light to control her. To make her keep her relationships secret. To wear certain clothes, say certain things, follow certain scripts. She’d rebelled, but only in private. 

And she’d done it because it was _easy_ , and because she felt like she owed her loyalty to the Defenders of the Light. She didn’t even have to be threatened with non-existence. Just a hint of a threat against Riku, not even to un-make him, just the threat to make him look like a bad guy, and they’d all fallen even harder in line.

Kairi nodded, not sure she could speak, throat suddenly thick with tears. She couldn’t tell if they were hers, or Naminé’s.

Naminé closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Suddenly Riku was closing the few steps between them. She didn’t have time to brace for an attack, but one didn’t come. He was hugging her, holding her like she was going to vanish if he didn’t. The knife fell from her hand, and she hugged him, fingers probably bruising his back as she held him to her.

“Kairi,” he murmured into her hair. “Kairi.”

Naminé was crying harder, though she brushed the tears away. “I’m sorry. I’ve let Riku go. Sora, too.”

“What about everyone else?” Kairi asked.

“I will, but an entire city of people… it will take time. And we don’t have enough of that. Time passes slowly in the dark between doors, but it is still passing, and Sora is fighting.”

And Kairi remembered what she was there to do. “Naminé, do you know what will happen if we destroy the machine that created the potentials? Grimoire said that was what we should do, but that it could destabilize the castle.”

Naminé nodded slowly. “The machine is what creates the Nobody copies, and what keeps them separate. Destroying it would probably get rid of the Nobodies, including me. I think that would fix the memory distortions, more quickly than I can do it on my own. But he’s also right, that it will destroy the castle.”

“So we have to get everyone else out first.” Kairi reluctantly pulled away from Riku. “Can you get me back to the room we were just in? I’ll try to help Sora. Then you need to go down to the dungeons and get the Heroes out of the castle. I’ll wait as long as I can for you to get everyone out, and then I’ll destroy the machine.”

Riku pulled her close and kissed her forehead, obviously torn about the plan. But in the end he agreed. “I will. But I am coming back for you and Sora as quickly as I can.”

She kissed him quickly, knelt to reclaim her knife, then grabbed his and Namine’s hands as he opened a new door.

-

This doorway let them out behind the twin thrones, close to the machine. Corridor squeezed her shoulder, and made a quick hand gesture, signifying that he’d be back. She smiled at him as he opened another corridor for himself, and stepped through.

She readied her knife, leaning out around the edge of the throne. Sora was holding his own against Xehanort and Xemnas, though she didn’t know how long that would last. They had to have given up on converting her, which meant any promises of leaving them unharmed were off the table, assuming they’d ever been genuine. With Roxas gone, they probably wanted Sora alive so they could remake their copy. Alive was a low bar.

Naminé grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. She was shaking her head. “If you join the fight, they’ll know you’re here. They’ll do anything to keep you away from the machine. This is probably our only chance to get close enough. We should wait.”

Radiance bit her lip. Naminé’s point was valid, but not if it was going to get Sora hurt.

“Let’s give Riku time,” the other woman said, “And see if Sora can hold out that long.”

“If I go out there to help him, can you destroy it?”

Naminé shook her head. “I don’t think I can. If I tried, I’m afraid it would destroy me before I succeeded.” After a pause she admitted, “That might still fix the memory alterations, but I don’t know.”

Radiance looked over at her. Naminé sat, knees drawn up to her chest. She looked small and scared. Even knowing how many of their problems she had caused, Radiance felt bad for her. She _did_ understand why the woman had done what she’d done. 

Radiance settled in next to her. “I don’t think you’ll totally stop existing,” she said. “When we destroy the machine.”

Naminé looked at her.

Radiance explained what had happened when Sora defeated Roxas. “Roxas did fade away, but I think whatever he’d been made from returned to Sora.”

“So we won’t disappear. It’s more like we’ll become whole again. I’m glad.” Naminé gave her a weak smile.

“Me too,” Radiance said, and she found she meant it. The Nobodies of the Organization didn’t deserve what was happening to them. Being created based on Xehanort’s whim, threatened with non-existence if they disobeyed. No one deserved that.

She shifted so she could see the ongoing fight. Sora was moving faster than she’d ever seen. Faster, but also extremely efficiently, wasting no motion. She was used to flourish and flash from him, little opportunities to show off. In part it was for the omnipresent cameras, always wanting a shot at the spotlight, but it was also because it was _fun_. There was no joy in this fight.

Xehanort and Xemnas fought, predictably, like two halves of the same whole, seeming to work together in a way she almost envied. All the practice and training sessions and strategizing they could fit in still left her, Corridor, and Keyblade occasionally getting in each other’s way, or missing a cue.

It was difficult to tell the two men apart, since she couldn’t see their eyes from her spot on the floor behind the thrones. Their powers seemed similar, some kind of energy-based blade-like weapons that flickered in and out of existence, sometimes glinting like metal, sometimes defying description. She tried to focus on them and couldn’t. The keyblade seemed capable of parrying them, but she had no idea what being hit by one would do.

How had none of them ever wondered if Xehanort had some other power? Everyone knew that he was a dimensional “hero” (and the tang of that word applied to him was bitter enough she wanted to spit), one of the _first_ examples of someone traveling between dimensions. But she’d never seen any of his bios mention _this_. He’d just been known as “the director” for so long, and an assistant and a researcher before that, never taking an active heroic role, never listed with a secondary power type.

Sora was wearing down faster than they were. His motions were still quick and precise, but just a fraction of a second delayed from what they’d been a few minutes before. The look on his face was uncharacteristically grim.

Understandable. The extraordinarily dangerous fight aside, he’d also seen Corridor grab her and disappear into the darkness, and they were still gone as far as he knew. And Naminé had finished freeing his memory. How disorienting would that have been?

She tried to figure out how long it had been since Corridor had gone. Had Yuffie managed to get the Heroes out of their cells? If not, Corridor could use the dark doorways to get them free. But how many Organization members would they be fighting? She hated not knowing. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes, and maybe not even that long. Not enough time. She clenched her hand around the knife hilt, and glanced toward the machine. Tauntingly close.

She looked back to the fight. Sora had been driven back into one of the barriers that Xemnas (or Xehanort?) seemed capable of creating. Too many of his moves had changed to pure defense, having to block or parry far more than he was able to strike out and attack. And next to none of those attacks were even getting close to landing.

Did she dare try and destroy the machine now? Regretfully she discarded the thought. If it was going to bring the whole castle down around them, she had to give Corridor, the other Heroes, and the vigilantes a chance to get out safely.

Sora cried out, and her attention whipped back to him.

A bright line of blood had bloomed down his right arm, the flesh around it smoking. The keyblade clattered to the ground. Sora called it back to his hand, but barely in time to block another strike from one of the flickering blades. His injured arm buckled, sending him to his knees to avoid another slashing attack.

She couldn’t just stay and wait. If it made it harder to get close enough to destroy the machine, so be it. She ducked out from behind the throne, and raced toward both black-clad men, knife drawn.

“Hey!” she yelled once she was within a few yards, more intent on just drawing their attention than saying anything clever.

It worked, at least at getting them to turn toward her. Sora took advantage, sliding sideways along the barrier at his back, getting out of immediate range, and switching the keyblade to his left hand.

Radiance slashed upward with her short knife. It connected with Xehanort’s jacket, though he twisted out of the way before she actually cut him. He jerked back, clearly still surprised by her arrival. She’d hoped to separate him from Xemnas, maybe allowing her and Sora to each take one of them on, but no such luck.

She kept the knife in front and to her side, ready to strike whichever direction she needed to. Sora was behind her, and she could see drops of blood on the ground from his wound. She wished she could have just a moment to talk to him, to tell him what had happened, what they were planning, that they just had to buy time… but of course she couldn’t.

“A disappointing choice,” Xehanort said, eyes flicking to her knife and back to her face.

“I know, it never tested well,” she said with something as close to a sneer as she could manage, deliberately misunderstanding. “Shame if my marketability took a hit.” 

His eyes narrowed, and the strange, flickering blade reappeared in his hand. Xemnas matched the gesture. This close the blades weren’t quite identical, even as they seemed to shift in and out of existence. Xehanort’s had more of the metallic sheen, while Xemnas’ looked more like a pure energy construct. Both were strangely difficult to focus on.

Xehanort lashed out with his weapon and she forced it aside with her smaller blade. For good measure, she sent a bright flare along with it, though he turned away before it could blind him.

She’d barely gotten her knife back in position before she was having to fend off a strike from Xemnas.

Sora stepped up closer, wielding his keyblade left handed. It was his weaker hand, though he’d trained hard to ensure he was proficient with it. But this wasn’t a fight where “proficient” was likely to be enough. Still, he was able to knock away Xehanort’s next strike, giving her a bit more breathing room.

They shifted to keep her at his right, covering his weaker side the best she could. 

They fell into a rhythm—not comfortable, and not even familiar, with him fighting wrong-handed, and her newly armed—but it was still easy to find. She desperately tried to count the seconds and minutes in her head. If it had been five minutes before she entered the fight, how many had it been since then? Had it been enough?

Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw a dark corridor opening at the far end of the room. She calmed slightly as she took in the smooth edges, but she forced her attention to stay purely on Xehanort and Xemnas. She wouldn’t give Riku away.

But Sora didn’t know. He did stare, shifting the blocking of his body, preparing to face a third threat if it became necessary.

Xemnas turned to follow Sora’s gaze as Corridor stepped through. “Was there a reason you abandoned your target to us?” he snapped.

There was a brief moment where she thought the two leaders of the Organization might fall back, expecting Corridor to join them. Some detached part of her thought it would have been a funny sight in its own way, with all that long silver hair and matching coats.

Xehanort barely glanced at Corridor. “Another traitor. His ingratitude will be dealt with this time.”

Another quick strike at Radiance before he even finished speaking, which Sora was able to deflect. Corridor rushed across the yards of empty space, where Xemnas was waiting to meet him.

“Is it done?” Radiance risked asking, loudly enough for Corridor to hear.

“Almost,” he replied, blocking Xemnas’ first attack, and then forcing him back. “It will be clear in the next few minutes.”

Of course he hadn’t waited until it was completely finished, because of course he’d wanted to make sure they were all right. Her gratitude and affection eclipsed her annoyance.

She deflected another of Xehanort’s attacks, trying to keep her awareness of where everyone was. Xemnas was getting closer, drawing Corridor in.

“Welcome back,” Sora called.

“Appreciate it,” Corridor answered. He danced backwards and to the side, starting an arc that would bring him around Xehanort and Xemnas, and end with him next to Radiance and Sora. Hard to say if that was really the better tactical position, but he’d certainly noticed Sora’s still-bleeding arm.

Xemnas attacked Corridor, trying to keep him away. Radiance saw a chance and made a lunge of her own, stabbing rather than slashing with her knife. This time she caught more than jacket, the blade sinking all the way into the back of Xemnas’ shoulder.

He twisted away from Corridor and toward her with a snarl, wrenching the knife from her hands. Wisps of shadow filtered around the hilt of the blade where it was buried, but the damage didn’t spread the way it had with other Nobodies.

“I have too much control over my form for that to stop me, little light,” he said, turning toward her, longer red energy blade flickering in and out of existence in his hand as it swept toward her.

She stumbled backward, shedding sparks in panic, but unable to quite shape them into anything useful. Sora managed to deflect Xemnas’ intended blow, but they were both driven all the way back to the invisible wall. A moment later, Corridor also slammed against the barrier on her other side.

Briefly, it felt like a relatively safe position. Both their opponents were in front of them, and the three of them were ready. But Sora had been fighting far longer than she had, and his breath was coming fast. She’d lost her weapon. Corridor was in better shape, but if he had to try and protect both of them…

He had to do just that, covering her and Sora’s weak right side. She did what she could, shaping and flinging daggers of burning-bright light into their opponents’ eyes, trying to keep them from being able to aim. It was better than nothing, but they were fully aware of that strategy.

It came down to exhaustion. Sora was just a fraction too slow getting the keyblade up. He still managed to avoid the worst of Xehanort’s blow, but the keyblade clattered to the ground, and he was knocked several feet away.

Before he could call it back to his hand, Xehanort was pressing the advantage, closing in on Sora and forcing him even farther back. Corridor raced to defend him, and Radiance ducked and rolled out of the way, trying to avoid becoming a target that Corridor would have to split his attention for.

Both Organization members narrowed in on Sora, ignoring her for the moment. Of course: she was basically a non-threat now, as far as they were concerned. And if they could get Sora out of the picture before he could get the keyblade back to hand, their victory was all but guaranteed.

Sora fell, overbalancing to avoid a slash at his throat. Were they really not even trying to keep him alive at this point?

The keyblade sat just a few feet away from her. Sora still hadn’t recalled it. Was he too weak? Too hurt?

Corridor crouched in front of Sora, long knife up in a protective stance. Of course she trusted him, even against two opponents, but he couldn’t keep it up forever. There was only one thing she could do to even the odds. She had to destroy the machine, and she had to do it now. Surely it had been long enough. Even if it hadn’t been, she couldn’t wait any longer.

She tried to meet Corridor’s eyes, and succeeded for just a moment. “Protect him,” she mouthed.

Then she got to her feet, grabbed the keyblade, and ran back toward the machine. 

If a knife had felt strange in her hand, that was nothing to the keyblade. She’d held it before, and so wasn’t completely surprised at how light it was for its size. It was still incongruous, and felt wrong on some psychological level, because it wasn’t hers. The weapon had chosen Sora, and he could take it away from anyone else who held it, but he could also _allow_ them to hold it. She just hoped he would realize she had it and not call it back before she was ready. Though if he did, she’d tear the damn machine apart with her bare hands.

The distance across the room was agonizingly long. She met Naminé’s wide-eyed gaze as she ran past, keyblade raised.

The first strike barely sank into the shadows surrounding the machine before it was deflected. The second time she sent her light along with the keyblade, and it bounced off with a ringing sound. The rotating rings inside seemed to shift, just ever so slightly, speeding up and hitching in their motion.

She prepared for another strike, and felt a gentle pair of hands join her own on the hilt. Naminé. The other girl’s eyes were still wide, but her mouth was set in a determined line.

It was an awkward way to hold the weapon, with four hands on the hilt, but this time when they swung the keyblade, it didn’t bounce off. It slid through the darkness and between the rings, to the heart of the machine. The rings themselves faltered, before beginning to fall, loose, as if whatever had anchored them had been pulled out.

Radiance felt a strange shift, like she’d felt once before. That feeling of the world lurching to the side, while she stayed in place. Naminé’s entire body was suddenly sparkling with gold light, like maybe she had Kairi’s ability after all. Naminé let go of the keyblade, and reached over to hug Radiance instead. And then that glow was rushing into her, as Naminé disappeared. No… she didn’t disappear. _We become whole._ And this time, instead of weak and off-balance after the shift, it seemed to all snap back into focus.

Until the ground below her _did_ shift, in a much more literal sense. The whole floor pitched sideways.

She looked back to the fight, what was left of it. Sora was back on his feet, though Corridor was supporting him. Xemnas was gone, Xehanort driven to his knees. He was facing her, not Corridor and Sora, as if he’d realized what she was doing, and intended to stop her. He got back to his feet, flickering weapon returning to his hand as he stumbled forward. He was saying something, but she couldn’t understand any words, just an incoherent rage.

Cracks broke jaggedly across the floor, parts of it crumbling to nothingness and others tilting at impossible angles. The vaulted ceiling was so high she’d barely been aware of it before, but pieces of stone were now raining down, providing additional hazards as she tried to judge a path back to the others.

Radiance readied the keyblade, and started to run. If she had to go through Xehanort, she would.

She didn’t get a chance, as a thin crack running the length of the floor between them opened into a chasm. She backpedaled and kept running. She didn’t want to leave him. He was still dangerous, could still do something to harm them… but there was no way for her to get to him.

She shook her head and ran at Sora and Corridor. She was only a few yards away.

With a sickening slide, the floor beneath her gave way, and she began to fall.

_“Kairi!”_ Riku screamed, and then he was falling, too, holding Sora as all three fell. She tried to use the debris around them to slow herself down, heedless of potential bruises and scrapes as she struck the broken stone. Finally Riku grabbed her, and pulled her into the dark.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return home.

* * *

_ Notice found on a major social media site: _

We apologize for recent site issues. Certain pages and accounts were removed in error. We’re working hard to restore these accounts, and appreciate your patience while we review what may have caused the error.

_Similar notices were found on several social media, blogging, and forum sites._

* * *

Radiance regained consciousness quickly. It didn’t take any real time to reconstruct what had happened, just seconds spent gathering all the pieces into the correct order. Corridor’s hand was still gripping hers, and there was soft grass under her back. Opening her eyes revealed Sora on Corridor’s other side, all three lit by the gentle twilight of the setting sun.

She sat up more slowly, feeling every abrasion and bruise. Corridor and Sora both shifted, pulling themselves upright as well.

Radiance threw her arms around Corridor, reaching to Sora, and pulling them both close. She fought back a wave of tears. Mostly of relief, in contrast to the wild overwhelm of the past days and weeks. But she knew that if she gave in, she wouldn’t be able to stop.

“You’re okay,” she said. “We’re okay.”

Corridor clung even tighter, collapsing back into the grass of the field, pulling them down on top of him.

They lay together for a few minutes, just holding onto each other, unable to even say anything.

It was with definite reluctance that she finally pulled away. But she had to find out if everyone else had made it out, too.

She dug in the pocket under the faux skirt of her costume, fumbling out her phone. The screen had an ugly crack spiderwebbing across it, but it still lit up and responded when she turned it on. With shaky fingers, she managed to dial Yuffie’s number from memory, hoping the vigilante would be able to answer.

She answered on the first ring. “Radiance?”

“It’s me,” she answered, now almost laughing with relief. That would be as dangerous as crying right now, in terms of being unable to stop.

“Thank god. You made it out?”

“I did. With Corridor and Keyblade. I destroyed the machine.”

“We figured you must have, when the castle collapsed and it all disappeared.”

“All of you got out all right?”

“One of your boyfriends helped us get the rest of the Heroes out of their cells, and then into the dark city. He left us to get ourselves out after that, going back for you guys, because he knows his priorities. Everybody made it.”

Radiance smiled at Yuffie’s description of Corridor. “I’m glad. The memory distortions are supposed to be fixed now. I hope it worked. I don’t know what we’ll do if it didn’t.”

“I guess we’ll see. You know, even if it _is_ fixed, there’s going to have to be a lot of explanation given. People are going to be confused, scared…”

“And we’re the Heroes who need to help protect them.” Radiance nodded, even though Yuffie couldn’t see it. “Tomorrow we’ll have to get the other Defenders of the Light together and figure out our next steps. What we’re going to do now.”

After a pause, she added, “You know, I’m pretty sure the vigilantes would be welcome, too. I know you guys have retired, but…”

“We might be available as consultants,” Yuffie said, voice gently teasing. “But let’s worry about that tomorrow, all right?”

“Tomorrow,” Radiance agreed. “Tonight I think everyone has recovering to do.”

“Absolutely,” Yuffie answered. “Let us know the plan after we all get some sleep.”

After hanging up, Radiance let Corridor and Sora know that the other Heroes were safe. She sent a text to her parents, promising she was okay and would give them more information soon. After that, she sent a mass text to the rest of the Defenders of the Light, asking them to contact her in the morning so they could plan what they were going to do next. It seemed a little strange to be taking that initiative, but she _had_ just staged a major rescue operation. It probably wasn’t that out of line.

Briefly, she hoped no one was going to head straight to the press, try to get the jump on the spin as some sort of power-grab, but she pushed the concern away. She didn’t think any of the Heroes were interested in that.

She put the much-abused phone back in her pocket, and turned back to Corridor. “Think you have enough strength to open one more dark doorway for us?”

-

Radiance expected that stepping out of the portal into the apartment would feel like coming home. It did, in the literal sense, but there was still an emotional cloud hanging over it all.

They’d made the short journey in silence, none of them knowing what to say. But at least there was always practicality to be concerned with.

“Sora, we need to take a look at your arm.”

“Been trying not to think about it,” he said, making a face. “But probably a good idea.”

They all headed toward the bathroom, shedding bits of costume on the way. Radiance’s mask, Corridor’s Organization coat, their boots. This was certainly not the first quick patch-up session they’d had in their bathroom. Sora sat on the side of the bathtub while Riku got a washcloth and Kairi fished the first aid kit out from under the sink.

Riku gently blotted at the dried and drying blood around the wound. The bleeding itself had stopped, though the skin immediately around the gash was also burned. The cut was deep, the kind of thing that was just on the edge of needing stitches.

“Think you can do without an ER visit? And I mean _honestly_ ,” Kairi emphasized. “That may not be the way we want to spend our first night reunited, but none of us are interested in risking it. What do you think?”

Sora flexed his arm, wincing. “I don’t think it needs stitches. Probably not up to another all-out fight, so if we can keep those to a minimum for a week or so, I’d appreciate it.”

“Butterfly bandages it is,” Kairi said. She leaned close and pecked him on the lips. “And we’ll do our best not to have any more dimension-crossing battles against our ex-boss and his league of blackmailed clones.”

“Can I get cleaned up the rest of the way before we patch me up, so we don’t have to do it twice?”

“Absolutely,” Riku answered.

The next part was routine: as they undressed, they checked each other over for any unnoticed injuries. Ironically, it was a very _comforting_ routine. Sora reached up and brushed his fingers over a closed-over cut near Riku’s hairline. Riku sucked in a sharp sympathetic breath as he counted the scrapes and bruises on Kairi’s back. She’d felt them when she woke up, but none needed more than a gentle cleaning and maybe some bandaids.

The shower was small for the three of them together, something they’d laughed about before, promising someday they’d have a mansion with one of those obscenely fancy room-sized showers. At least, they always said, they didn’t mind being close.

And when you had a deep gash keeping you from using an arm, or your back felt like a patchwork of minor pains, or any other array of injuries, it was lovely to have someone else who could help wash your hair.

Riku adjusted the water temperature, not as hot as Kairi would normally have it, but the right kind of warm for cleaning up injuries without making anything hurt more.

As Kairi helped run shampoo through Sora’s hair, and rinsed it clean, the first bits of that emotional cloud finally started to dissipate. More was chased away as Riku ran a soapy washcloth over her back, so gently she hardly felt the sting. And at that, she couldn’t hold back those threatening tears any more.

Sora was there to support her with his uninjured arm, and Riku covered her back with his chest, just holding them both. She didn’t fight the tears off this time, letting the shower wash them away as fast as they came. She also didn’t suppress the fragments of light radiating from her skin, reflecting off the falling water and the droplets clinging to all three of them.

“You have no idea how scared I was,” she finally said, when she could get the words out without sobbing.

“I was scared too,” Sora answered after a moment. “But always knew you’d come back. You’d rescue both of us. I was never scared that wouldn’t happen.”

She felt Riku nod, his cheek against her wet hair. “Even as… confused, and wrong as I was, I knew you wouldn’t give up. Even when I told you you should.”

She let out a laugh through the last of the tears. “I think you both had more faith in that than I did.”

“Never say that,” Riku said, pressing a hard kiss to the back of her neck. “You saved us and the rest of the Heroes. You found out what you had to do and you did it. And we all made it out. _Because of you_.”

“Thank you,” she said. She stood back up the rest of the way, before that kiss on her neck tempted any of the three of them into something distracting. The apartment had a lot of hot water, but it wasn’t infinite.

Once they were all cleaned up and dried off, they finished taking care of Sora’s arm. Antibiotic ointment, butterfly bandages placed outside the line of burned skin, and then a gauze pad to cushion it all. Riku put some of the antibiotic on the worst of the scrapes on Kairi’s back, and she applied some to the gash on his forehead, but miraculously nothing else needed immediate bandaging.

They collapsed in bed together.

Riku broke the silence this time. “I… remember the things she made me forget. And the things I suddenly misremembered. I remember the real versions, but also the false ones. I remember walking in a park with Naminé, but also that that never happened; it was Kairi I was with that day. I remember Roxas saving me from a Heartless that got the jump on me, but I know it was really Sora who did that. I remember suddenly thinking that all the terrible villainous things we ever fought against were done by the Defenders of the Light, and feeling like the Organization was standing up against them. And I remember being so torn, because I still knew that I loved you, despite everything trying to tell me that you were bad people. And I remembered that I’d been a villain before, and I knew it was important I didn’t let myself become that again.” He scrubbed tears away from his face.

Kairi bit her lip. Even ignoring everything else—the ‘alternate potentials’ and forcing them to follow orders, capturing the Heroes, turning the city against them, hurting Sora—she could never have forgiven them for putting Riku back in that position. Leveraging his fear of being seen as a villain to force him to comply, tricking him into the very thing he was afraid of. “You still helped me, you know.”

“How?” he forced the word out.

“That _awful_ morning talk show that interviewed you, where you were talking about joining the Organization. And you said you were publically begging me and Keyblade to turn ourselves in. But you made the sign telling us to run.”

“You actually saw that?”

She nodded. “It showed that you still cared, no matter what else you said, and that I for sure wasn’t going to fix things by turning myself in and trying to talk it out with Xehanort.”

Riku laughed without humor. “We filmed that the morning after I’d told you to leave. I never thought you’d see it, but I knew they were going to come after you. I guess they’d already captured Sora, and I just didn’t know it yet. But despite everything I thought I remembered, I just couldn’t believe you were irredeemable. Even now it’s like this awful mental double exposure.”

“My memories feel the same way,” Sora said. “Like I remember Riku, Naminé, and me as childhood friends… but I also know that I never knew her. It was the three of _us_. I remember remembering her, if that makes sense. But it’s kind of like a dream. One of those that you think is real until you wake up the rest of the way.”

“Like a dream,” Riku repeated. “Yeah. It kind of feels like it’ll fade the way the memories of a dream would. But I can’t let myself forget.”

“Hey,” Kairi cut him off. “You _do_ know it’s not your fault, right? Your memories were manipulated, that’s not something you did or could have resisted.”

“But if I’d let them convince me to actually hurt either of you—”

“You didn’t,” Sora said. “You just said, even when they were forcing you to remember us as bad guys, you still loved us. And Kairi saw you trying to pass on a warning to us in an interview? I can’t imagine Xehanort would have been happy if he’d noticed that, but you did it anyway.”

“ _And_ you saved me from Xigbar, in that last Organization-versus-Defenders of the Light fight,” Kairi added. “He was definitely about to shoot me, and you pushed me through a corridor. Knocked the wind out of me, but that beats getting, you know, _shot._ Even in the middle of a fight, you were still protecting me.”

“Yeah.” He still sounded unsure.

Sora let out an obviously exaggerated sigh. “So make it up to us, if you’re so worried.”

Riku pushed himself up on an elbow to look over at Sora. “What?”

Sora reached over with his left hand, cupping it around the back of Riku’s neck, and pulling him closer. “You heard me. Make. It. Up. To us.”

Kairi giggled as Sora hauled Riku across her and into a kiss.

Riku caught himself before he fell onto her, but didn’t pull away from Sora. When Sora finally relaxed his hand, Riku leaned back. He searched both of their faces for a moment. 

He looked like he was about to object to something, so Kairi hooked her leg around his, bare skin on skin, pulling him closer above her. She claimed a kiss of her own, then spoke against his lips: “Is this an acceptable way to make it up?”

He ran one of his hands up her side, gently cupping her ribcage. “Is it?” he asked back. His voice was barely a whisper, and still broke a bit.

“Well, if you’re afraid there’s some question about how you feel about us, I bet you can clear it up.”

She felt him smile at that, which was at least a start. “Sora does sometimes come up with a decent idea.”

“Hey!” Sora protested.

Riku pressed a quick kiss to Kairi’s lips, before shifting to lean over Sora instead. “You’re right,” he said. “Rude of me, when you’ve been heroically wounded, even.”

“Damn right,” Sora said, pulling him back down.

Riku leaned over and whispered something into Sora’s ear. Even as close as they were, Kairi couldn’t hear it, but after he leaned back, Sora said, “Sounds fair.”

Then Riku was back to her, his mouth at her throat. She tipped her head back, giving him free access, trusting he’d behave himself. They always had to be careful with anything on necks, shoulders, upper chests. Accidentally leaving a hickey or other mark would be a sure way to get a reprimand and generate all the wrong tabloid headlines. That spurred a sudden hope that she hadn’t considered before: _did they have to worry about that anymore? Did they have to keep hiding?_

Then Riku was moving farther down her body, trailing kisses down her chest, stomach, and farther, and she wasn’t thinking about anything else.

Sora leaned close, kissing her in between the gasps and sounds Riku was drawing out of her. “Riku thought that since you were the hero who saved us all, you probably deserved some extra attention,” he murmured.

It took several moments for her to formulate a response. “You’re _both_ full of such good ideas.”

He laughed, and the lights flickering off her skin framed his face, and reflected off of Riku’s hair. A few minutes later, and those lights were brighter and more frantic, until she cried out, and both Riku and Sora helped bring her back down.

She let her breathing return to something resembling normal, as Riku turned his attention to Sora, prowling back up to kiss him. And that certainly drew her attention, too.

Riku’s hand was still down at hip level, and something he was doing had Sora squirming very nicely. She indulged in just watching for a few minutes, enjoying the way Riku rocked forward, and Sora pushed his hips up in rhythm.

Kairi ran her fingers along Sora’s chest between them, then down Riku’s back. The touches were light, gently teasing. But really she just needed to touch them, not quite ready to say why. _I was afraid. I was afraid that last time had been the_ last _time, and I’d never have you both again._

She swept Riku’s long, still damp hair, already a bit tangled, over his opposite shoulder. 

“I want to see your pretty face,” she said when he looked toward her.

He flushed, and she grinned. It wasn’t nearly as easy to fluster him as it was Sora, which made it that much more satisfying to succeed.

She curled closer to Sora, careful of his arm, kissing his shoulder while her hand roved over his chest and side, back up to Riku’s side and down his arm.

Riku caught her fingers, and kissed her hand before letting her go and bending back to Sora’s neck. Sora wrapped his legs around Riku’s hips, their rhythm changing, growing frantic, before finally slowing.

After, part of her wanted to stay awake, to revel in success and safety, in all three of them having made it through. But exhaustion won out over all of them, and they slept.

* * *

_A blog entry, by user FirePhase_LunarDancer, posted late on the same evening the “alternate dimension” collapsed:_

Okay you guys, I am seriously shaking right now. And I know that’s the kind of thing that’s been said so often it doesn’t really mean much, but I mean it literally.

For the last several days, I’ve been unable to post. I tried, but the site just kept giving me errors, saying my account wasn’t recognized. Not a password issue, but like my account was just gone. I was freaking out, but I contacted support, and they said they would look into it, and maybe check some server backups, so I was trying to just be patient. Now I’ve got access again, and the site has some banner message about this having happened to a bunch of blogs, apparently.

But I was so used to posting daily, I wrote out what I’d been wanting to post longhand, because it was really bugging me. And… honest to god, this is what I wrote:

_So I can’t post on my blog, but I still wanted to write…_

_I have kind of a weird… problem? Honestly, I thought maybe it was a prank or something, but that doesn’t seem right. My sister has pulled some pretty good ones, but nothing like this._

_But I have a ton of merch that I just don’t remember buying, or even having. Which is weird to say, right? But I don’t mean that I found a box of stuff I’d forgotten about from a con, or stuff I bought online while sleep deprived and forgot until it arrived. It’s like… I have displays in my room, on my shelves, on my walls, of a bunch of Defenders of the Light stuff. Mostly Fire Dancer and Lunar Phase, but some others too._

_But like… what the fuck? Why the hell would I have a bunch of villain stuff?? I’ve never been a weirdo vigilante/villain fan. A couple things, I could maybe get. Like did I get some of these figures because I wanted to customize them into Axel and Saïx? (They’ve got the right hair colors at least, and if I made Organization coats and got rid of their masks they’d be pretty similar!) But this is a bunch of stuff! Posters, action figures, a storage tin, a photo book, a DVD video compilation, themed jewelry, enamel pins… And where would I even have gotten it? Who even sells this much villain merch? It seems like this would have taken some effort to get! So how did I wind up with it?_

_This is so bizarre. Because while I don’t even remember having this stuff, it also doesn’t… feel out of place? Which makes even less sense. But it’s not like I woke up in a room full of things that weren’t mine… just things I don’t remember getting. But they were on my walls and my shelves, where I’d see them every day._

_I think I’m just going to take everything down and put it in a box. I don’t know what the hell this all is, but it’s really freaking me out. I’m gonna talk to my sister… maybe it really was a prank or something, in which case I guess she got me._

I never asked my sister. Because once I put it all away? _I completely forgot about it_. Like… poof, just… didn’t think about it again. Moved some new stuff onto my shelves like nothing else had been there. Forgot about writing that journal entry, too. And I never even thought about the fact that Fire Dancer and Lunar Phase… literally _are_ my username, so how could I claim not to be a fan of theirs? They’ve been my favorite Heroes for years.

And so why would I suddenly freak out about them being villains?

Well… whatever happened a few hours ago happened, and it was like suddenly I remembered all this stuff that I didn’t before. About the Defenders of the Light being Heroes, and about the Organization being villains… which is the “normal” thing, right? But I also still remember that up until a couple hours ago, I didn’t think of the Defenders of the Light as anything other than villains! Like, a vague sense that once they’d been good guys, but that they’d gone bad, and the Organization were bravely fighting them, and getting them locked away… And I remember that wasn’t true, but I also remember believing it, and just...

I remembered all my merch stuff, and that journal entry I’d written out.

I’ve spent the last several hours scrolling through my f-list and a couple of the news sites… and it seems like I’m not alone. A lot of people have started reporting that they suddenly remember things they didn’t, and remember things they know never happened. Almost all of it sounds like it was about the Defenders of the Light and the Organization.

Most people seem to agree that it was some kind of dimensional interference, because a couple months ago, they made a big deal about a potential dimensional collision.

I really hope someone has some answers, because this is absolutely freaking me out. Anyone else have something like this happen?

* * *

The next morning passed in a flurry of texts and phone calls and video chats between the Heroes. Radiance was the center of it, since she’d taken the initiative to start forming some coherent plan of action. And since she was in the same place as Keyblade and Corridor, it was at least easy to keep them in the loop. Several other Heroes were in groups together, teammates and friends and partnerships.

Various media outlets had reached out to all of them, looking for comment and explanation. Radiance’s concerns from the previous day regarding any of the Heroes trying to get an early spin on the coverage proved unfounded; none of them had any interest in that, and had all refrained from saying anything specific. After they had a chance to talk, they agreed on a press conference at noon, giving them a few hours to make sure they would be a united front.

They met at the old headquarters building, despite it feeling… strange. Even hostile. But it was still their “home base” such as it was, even more than half-gutted. It offered enough space for all of them to speak face to face, even including Leon and Yuffie as representatives for the retired Heroes. And Radiance discovered that she was surprisingly _proud_ of all of them. Even with the formal organization having largely fallen apart, they were all focused on upholding Heroic vows, to protect the city and its people.

The press conference itself was almost anti-climactic. The Scientist and Grimoire provided the background, explaining the alternate dimension, the machine, the functional cloning, and the memory alteration. It was a lot of information. There were some things they didn’t mention, like the pattern to the names. 

They leaned a little heavily into Xehanort being the true culprit, the one who’d used reasonable research and experimentation to serve ulterior motives, but it was still true.

Most of the questions focused on simply _understanding_ the event, now that everyone in the city was coping with the “double exposure” memories that Riku had described the previous night.

Finally the questions turned more to the future: how would they know it couldn’t happen again? How could citizens trust their memories weren’t being tampered with? What did this mean for the Defenders of the Light?

They took turns answering questions, and that last one fell to Radiance. It was one they’d all known was coming.

“Our goal is to create a heroic team that no longer prioritizes marketability over the actual safety of the city. The true purpose of the Defenders of the Light, even in its original incarnation, was to help people. To help the people of the city. To help people who develop powers. To help understand where they come from.

“Ironically, as Xehanort pretended the original heroes had strayed from that purpose, and then claimed the same about the current roster, _he_ was the one who moved us away from that mission. We intend to reorient ourselves, to return to what this group was always intended to be.”

Grimoire leaned forward into his mic. “We plan to meet with each other, with some of the retired heroes who founded the group, with local law enforcement, and with city government to ensure that we are aligned with what will best serve the city.”

Before another question could be asked, Corridor also added, “It is also our intent to help provide accessible counseling services, for anyone struggling with the aftermath. This is something none of us have had to deal with on this scale before, and we want to support anyone who needs help with it.”

Radiance squeezed his hand and smiled at him. They hoped most people would recover well, once they understood what had happened. But just knowing that memories could be altered could be terrifying, even depersonalizing. For anyone like Corridor, who had done things they ordinarily wouldn’t have due to that manipulation, some type of help would absolutely be necessary.

Slowly, the questions wound down. They planned for a follow up press conference in a couple more days, after some of the promised meetings took place, to answer any new questions and provide updates.

As the heroes began to disperse, many reporters stayed to get last pictures and make their own closing statements before leaving.

One young reporter that Radiance recognized from a couple past interviews waved to her. “What about you, Radiance?” she asked. “You’ve personally been through a lot, orchestrating the rescue of your teammates. So what are you going to do right now? Have any plans for some well-deserved recovery time?”

Radiance thought for a brief second, then reached out and grabbed both Keyblade and Corridor’s hands. She flashed the brightest smile she could and said, “All three of us are going home.”

-

Speculation about romantic entanglements was certainly not front-page news, especially compared to the weightier material from the press conference. But even so, Sora gave a triumphant shout as he scrolled through one outlet’s article summarizing the event.

Toward the bottom was a slideshow, and in there was a picture of Radiance, proudly grinning at the camera, holding both Corridor and Keyblade’s hands up. It was captioned: _Radiance proclaims that she and her teammates will be spending some recovery time at home. Is this tacit confirmation that they live together? Perhaps time will tell._

Kairi leaned into Sora’s shoulder to read it as he pointed it out. Riku rolled his eyes, though she thought he looked quietly pleased, perched on the armrest of the couch.

“I hope it wasn’t out of line for me to do that,” she said. “We didn’t really talk about how we’re portraying things.”

“Holding hands. The scandal. Think of the children,” Riku deadpanned. “We’re past getting called into the director’s office for a dressing down. If you’re okay with this, then I am too.”

“Same here,” Sora agreed. “We don’t need to be gross about the PDA or anything, but if we’re allowed to just not hide things anymore, I’m all for it.”

“I’d love to stop hiding things,” she said. “So let’s not. We don’t have to make a statement about it or anything. Maybe we can take bets on how long it takes someone to figure it out.”

“I doubt they’ll let you get away with not making a statement,” Riku said. “Once the serious stuff dies down a bit, everyone will be gossip-hungry and nosey again, and they’ll absolutely ask you to pick a side.”

Kairi tugged on Riku’s sleeve, pulling him down onto the couch itself, and he landed across both their laps. “Then won’t they be surprised?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tragically, I realized as I wrote this last chapter that "Double Exposure" would have been a _way cooler_ title for this fic, but alas, too late now!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone for reading this fic! Especially to everyone who left amazing and encouraging comments throughout! Thank you again to the Rogue Nebula organizers who kept the event going, and encouraging me on my first ongoing fandom contribution in close to a decade!
> 
> I mentioned it briefly in one chapter note, and in some comments, but this fic owes a lot to the amazing _Velveteen vs._ series by Seanan McGuire. This fic isn't set in that world or anything, but if you liked the shady corporate control aspect of the Defenders of the Light, then you might really enjoy the Velveteen series, which features that sort of theme even more prominently! It's very fun and well worth reading! You can find the first book for free at the author's website, and if you don't mind tag searching, you can find the second and third books posted chapter-by-chapter at her old livejournal. They're also available as e-books, and as limited-run physical copies. And hopefully someday we'll get a book 4!
> 
> And finally, only if you want to, you can absolutely give this fic a share on tumblr. There's a mini-moodboard for it [ on my writing blog](https://unlike-clockwork.tumblr.com/post/618229234788401152/read-potentials-on-ao3). Thank you all so very much for reading!


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